AGMA Announces New Member Company.

Organization Provides Education and Support to Leading Global IT Corporations

FREMONT, Calif. -- The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the gray marketing and counterfeiting of technology products around the globe, today announced that it has added a new member company to its roster. EMC Corporation has joined AGMA.

Today, counterfeiting and gray market fraud are among the most challenging issues facing the IT industry. The effects of illegal replicas flooding the marketplace and goods sold through unauthorized distribution channels have severe implications to everyone involved - from the consumer to the reseller to the original equipment manufacturer.

"Gray market and counterfeiting are real for the IT industry today," said AGMA president, Ram Manchi. "Our membership represents some of the most influential companies in the high tech arena. Our member companies can help address, educate and create awareness for IT companies, their channel partners and consumers to the damage that can happen with the unauthorized flow of IT products into the gray market."

As an umbrella organization, whose members' combined annual revenues exceed $130 billion, AGMA's mission is to ensure the highest product quality standards, uphold customer satisfaction, protect brand integrity, improve standards for intellectual property enforcement, address the counterfeiting of IT products, and stem the unauthorized flow of goods into the gray market.

2008 Strategic Initiatives

AGMA has mapped out several key initiatives for the coming year; chief among them is the goal of developing best practices to help address the counterfeiting of branded technology products by encouraging member companies to share awareness and insights.

"The success of our mission depends on our members. Education and awareness of other IT companies, the channel and consumers about this growing problem is the key to addressing gray market issues," said Manchi. "Discussion about best practices will also help in AGMA's education efforts to manufacturers, the channel and consumers. This will enable AGMA to raise awareness among policy makers and law enforcement to actively engage with AGMA and the industry to focus on issues surrounding gray market and counterfeit sales."

There are many benefits to becoming a member. AGMA provides an open forum where intellectual property brand owners can discuss trends, issues and approaches to gray market fraud and counterfeiting in the technology sector. It also uses a variety of avenues to get its message out and cultivate change in the marketplace, including event speaking, educational initiatives, benchmark studies, whitepapers, industry guidelines, and, as appropriate, public policy advocacy in areas like law enforcement and customs.

To learn more about AGMA's initiative or to become a member, please visit www.agmaglobal.org.

About AGMA

AGMA is a non-profit organization comprised of influential companies in the technology sector including founding members 3Com Corporation [NASDAQ: COMS], Cisco Systems, Inc. [NASDAQ: CSCO], HP [NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ] and Nortel [NYSE/TSX: NT]. Incorporated in 2001, AGMA's mission is to address gray market fraud and counterfeiting of technology products around the globe. The organization's goals are to protect the authorized distribution channels and intellectual property of authorized goods to improve customer satisfaction and preserve brand integrity. AGMA is open to any technology manufacturer that owns a branded IT product. For more information, please visit www.agmaglobal.org.