1. A computer-implemented method for managing spam within an email message stream directed from a server to a communications device, comprising: defining a plurality of anti-spam filter levels with at least one anti-spam filter level at each one of the server and the communications device and including at least one anti-spam module configurable for filtering spam messages; generating an anti-spam request at the communications device, the anti-spam request including a preferred anti-spam filter level; communicating the anti-spam request to the preferred anti-spam filter level from the communication device; implementing the anti-spam request at the preferred anti-spam filter level based on at least one predetermined criterion; and determining if the anti-spam request cannot be implemented at the preferred anti-spam filter level and, if it is determined that the anti-spam request cannot be implemented at the preferred anti-spam level, implementing the anti-spam request at the uppermost anti-spam filter level having at least one anti-spam module with available processing capacity.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the anti-spam request based on one of user selection and user input.