From: william(at)elan.net [mailto:william(_at_)elan(_dot_)net]
P.S. For the authors of this patent reading the list, I'll
note that I
found it funny that patent mentions taking first address of the From
header. The RFC2822 is very clear that if From header is group of
addresses, then Sender header MUST be present and that is where info
is to be looked at (if its not, one can probably discard the message
as not RFC compliant). I simply did not expect such a stupid
mistake as
far as email standars are concerned to be part of the patent text.
The email system in use has never been fully RFC compliant.
RFC 2822 was an attempt to rectify that problem, twenty years after
the fact. If you are writing a patent you are well advised to make
claims with respect to both theory and practice.
Specifications only become standards if the authors can persuade
people to implement and deploy.
There is no automatic right that this group or any other has to
have the advice it gives to the Internet community acted upon.
Nobody ever elected us to make decisions on their behalf. We are
not accountable to the Internet community. Those who do not accept
accountability cannot hold others accountable.