eCertain Joins Forces with New Xerox Spin-Off, ContentGuard, Inc. to Support XrML Standards Initiative

AUSTIN, TX (April 27, 2000) — eCertain announced today its support of the open standard XrML, the rights specification language that ContentGuard, Inc., a new Xerox spin-off company, is licensing, royalty-free, to the Digital Rights Management (DRM) industry. Broad adoption of XrML will revolutionize the eContent marketplace by allowing different DRM systems to exchange rights information (such as access fees and usage restrictions), making it easier for eContent owners to use the Internet to distribute premium content.

"As business processes move from the physical world to the Internet, the ability to protect and track digital assets becomes increasingly important," said Neil Iscoe, CEO of eCertain. "The XrML open standard from ContentGuard is a critical step in creating an Internet infrastructure that will accelerate the development of e-content applications, promote product interpretability, and expedite availability of all kinds of digital content for the Internet. ContentGuard is to be commended for spearheading this innovation in digital rights management."

"We're very excited that eCertain is supporting our drive to create an open industry standard in this groundbreaking new area,” said Mike Miron, co-chairman and CEO of ContentGuard. "We believe that working with innovative companies like eCertain is key to bringing creative new XrML-based solutions to the business market and ensuring that the different parties involved in DRM are able to intemperate."

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About eCertain
eCertain™ is a transaction-based Internet service that provides the Digital Certainty™ necessary to do business on the Internet. An integrated, audited and immediate method of exchanging information online, eCertain conforms to open standards and partners with best-of- breed ASPs and software providers to give vertical business communities the privacy, confidentiality and security they need to conduct eBusiness with confidence. Digital Certainty and eCertain are registered trademarks of eCertain.

About XrML
XrML (eXtensible rights Markup Language) is a platform-independent language, based on research from Xerox' Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), that allows content owners to distribute eContent via a wide range of business models, such as offering subscriptions, special discounts or timed previews to consumers. Widespread adoption of XrML will allow seamless distribution of digital works between the diverse range of parties involved in eContent creation, distribution and consumption. XrML provides an open architecture, scalability, customization, extensibility and the capacity to integrate with existing and new systems.

About ContentGuard, Inc.
ContentGuard, Inc, launched in April 2000, provides digital rights management technology, products and services for eContent. With investors including Xerox Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, the company is led by co-chairman and CEO, Michael Miron, and president and COO, Ranjit Singh, and has operations in McLean, Virginia, Palo Alto, California and El Segundo, California. ContentGuard, Inc.'s key partners currently include Microsoft Corporation, Xerox Corporation, Adobe Systems Inc., Reciprocal, Inc., and Thomson Learning. eCertain is a key XrML supporter along with a broad range of industry leaders, including Barnes and Noble, Hewlett Packard, Preview Systems and Time Warner.

Media Contacts:
Alison Rizk, Text 100 for ContentGuard, Inc, 415-836-5990, email alisonr@text100.com
Carolyn Smith, eCertain, 512-477-1892, email smith@ecertain.com

NOTE TO EDITORS:
For more information about ContentGuard, Inc, please visit our website at www.contentguard.com.

ContentGuard is a registered trademark and RightsEdge, XrML, e-contentseller and eXtensible Rights Markup Language are trademarks of ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. All other company and product trademarks are the property of their respective owners.