Akamai Unveils Digital Commerce Solution; Akamai Joins Forces With Reciprocal, the Leader in Digital Rights Management; Becomes First Reseller of Reciprocal's Services.

Business/Technology Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2000

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the foremost provider of global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media, and applications, today unveiled its Digital Parcel Service - an unparalleled, comprehensive digital distribution and rights management solution. Instrumental to the initial release of this service, Akamai and Reciprocal, Inc., the global leader in digital rights management (DRM) transaction services, also announced today a strategic alliance that combines the companies' core technologies and expertise.

According to Forrester Research, nearly $3 billion worth of goods will be distributed via digital downloads by 2004. With the introduction of the Digital Parcel Service (DPS), Akamai is providing solutions to the problem of how businesses manage and leverage their digital assets to their fullest potential. This sets the foundation for a comprehensive digital commerce solution that will address content control, storage, and digital asset management, as well as the enablement of new business models such as syndication and pay-per-view.

Combining Akamai's enhanced digital delivery capabilities with Reciprocal's industry-leading DRM services, the Digital Parcel Service allows content providers to securely and flexibly package, sell, and distribute digital content with superior speed and performance.

Akamai will also serve as the first reseller of Reciprocal's DRM services. Reciprocal provides comprehensive business-to-business secure e-commerce services for the distribution of all forms of digital content, including audio, publications, graphics, software, images and video.

"The Internet will continue to evolve into a marketplace for digital goods, and Akamai is offering the services to enable content providers to embrace it to its full potential," said George Conrades, chairman and CEO, Akamai. "Reciprocal's superior DRM services, coupled with Akamai's content delivery expertise and worldwide network, make the Digital Parcel Service a first-of-its-kind offering for the digital distribution marketplace."

"Today's businesses are faced with the challenge of leveraging their digital assets into new revenues while providing their end users a satisfying consumer experience on the Web," said John Schwarz, president and CEO, Reciprocal. "Akamai brings speed and reliability to the delivery of digital goods, and Reciprocal brings digital rights protection and new revenue opportunities - the combined offering provides an unparalleled solution for those businesses looking to take advantage of the digital economy. We're thrilled to have Akamai as our first reseller, and look forward to working with them closely to help drive this industry forward and make secure content distribution a reality for everyone."

The Akamai Digital Parcel Service is built upon enhancements to Akamai's global network that have been designed to support the efficient delivery of large digitized objects. By leveraging Akamai's Internet content delivery experience, and EdgeAdvantage(SM) platform, the DPS solution ensures that digital goods are strategically placed throughout the Akamai global network to optimize distribution efficiency. The solution also includes insightful reporting into the successful delivery of these files, providing new opportunities to monitor and enhance marketing efforts.

As content providers look for ways to turn site visits into revenue, the DPS solution will allow content providers to take advantage of new business models such as subscription and pay-per-use. In addition, DPS users will be able to leverage Akamai's globally distributed network to expand their worldwide reach and ensure the efficient distribution of large digital files. The solution enables content providers to take advantage of the compelling cost advantages to be had in leveraging the Internet as a distribution channel for digitized assets. Furthermore, it provides the opportunity to extend the revenue-producing life of existing digital assets, all while protecting the owner's intellectual property.

The initial version of Akamai's Digital Parcel Service includes support for Content Preparation, Digital Distribution, Rights Clearing and Reporting. The flexibility of the solution enables customers to take advantage of Akamai's enhanced delivery system on its own, or combine it with industry-leading digital rights management capabilities.

Akamai Digital Parcel Service is currently in a controlled release and will be generally available in Q4 2000. Pricing will be announced at the time of general availability.

About Reciprocal

Reciprocal, the global leader in digital rights management transaction services, provides comprehensive, easy-to-implement e-commerce clearing services and back-office solutions for the music, publishing, software, film, entertainment, and other digital content industries. Reciprocal offers content owners a true outsourced DRM solution that allows them to realize new revenue streams while efficiently protecting their online digital assets.

The Reciprocal Digital Clearing Service leverages leading DRM technology from InterTrust Technologies Corporation, Microsoft Corp., IBM, ContentGuard, Inc., Adobe Systems Incorporated, and Preview Systems, allowing companies to choose the solution that best fits their business needs. Reciprocal Digital Clearing Service is secure, flexible and capable of handling millions of transactions per day. Leading content companies such as Sony Music Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, Zomba Records, Houghton Mifflin, Reuters and Aberdeen Group have selected Reciprocal as their digital rights management services provider. Privately held, Reciprocal maintains offices in New York City, Buffalo, NY and Research Triangle Park, NC.

About Akamai

Akamai is the foremost provider of global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media and applications, serving over 2,100 customers. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 4,200 servers in 50 countries directly connected to 225 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool.

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the dependence on Akamai's Internet content delivery service, a failure of its network infrastructure, the complexity of its service and the networks on which the service is deployed, the failure to obtain access to transmission capacity and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.