ADVISORY/ION Systems, Inc. is First to License New IBM Digital Rights Management Enhancements; Press Conference To Be Held Feb. 21.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

Seybold Seminars New York 2002

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2002

ION Systems, Inc. will host a press conference Thursday February 21st at Seybold Seminars NY, in room 2D11, at 3:30 PM announcing it is the first company worldwide to license IBM's Electronic Media Management System (EMMS) for publishing. ION, a global innovator in usability-focused on-screen reading technology and ePublishing services, will deploy EMMS to provide comprehensive and flexible digital rights management (DRM) for the secure distribution and sale of a wide variety of econtent available through GalaxyLibrary.com(TM).

GalaxyLibrary(TM) is an end-to-end ePublishing solution for content owners that provides conversion, management and distribution of digital content in all popular file formats for PCs, handheld devices, print-on-demand, Braille and traditional print. IBM's EMMS system adds a state-of-the-art DRM component to the GalaxyLibrary system.

"This announcement marks the beginning of IBM's DRM support for the publishing industry, expanding our EMMS capabilities beyond secure audio and music distribution, to the secure text and image," said Scott Burnett, Marketing Director for IBM Digital Media. "As part of the recently announced Digital Media Factory, EMMS now will support various publishing file types, providing publishers with access to popular consumer devices, including PCs, Smart Phones, Palm Pilots, and Microsoft Windows CE operating system-based devices."

"IBM is one of the largest and most respected DRM providers in the marketplace, and for over four years ION has been building a strong relationship with IBM, planning the implementation of the EMMS DRM behind GalaxyLibrary(TM)," said Jill Thomas, CEO of ION Systems. "Publishers want customizable security from a known entity, and IBM's DRM was the only DRM which can support current and future digital content formats and a wide range of media types."

In addition to using EMMS for GalaxyLibrary content, ION is offering the first worldwide EMMS ePublishing Service Bureau. Companies can distribute secure digital content using EMMS by working with GalaxyLibrary service for custom distribution needs.

EMMS will now be able to securely display the industry standard Open eBook (OeB) file format using ION's eMonocle(TM) application, With its patented non-scrolling, font resizing interface, the eMonocle XML viewer allows users to easily control their reading experience regardless of platform, physical challenge or visual impairment. As part of its ePublishing Service Bureau functionality, ION is bundling eMonocle as one of three viewers with an EMMS Client Library application to provide secure viewing of OeB, PDF and handheld device formats.