Crynwr Email Confirmation

This web page is placing the following algorithm into the public domain so that nobody can patent it. First published 7 May 2003.

To confirm an incoming email, you perform the following steps:

1. Accept all mailing list email.
2. Accept all email from users who have sent you email before.
3. Accept all email from users who you have emailed before.
4. Delay by fifteen minutes the delivery of all remaining email, and send an automatic reply saying "Hi. Thanks for sending me mail. Other people who have sent me mail have wondered about X, Y, and Z. Here's the answers to those questions: ......"
5. Set the envelope sender address on that email to an address controlled by a robot which causes the email to be immediately discarded.
6. Deliver all pending email more than fifteen minutes old.