EMAZING Subscribers Now Can 'Hear It Through the Grapevine'.

Business & Technology Editors

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2000

New "EMAZING Grapevine" Service Allows

Topic-Specific, Private Email Discussion & Chat

Louisville-based EMAZING.com, a leading provider of free, email content and services to Internet users, today announced the launch of its newest, free service to users of www.EMAZING.com -- EMAZING Grapevine, a private email discussion and chat service focused on specialized topics of interest to users.

EMAZING Grapevine overcomes the downside of email discussion groups - lack of privacy - and offers users the first organized cluster of discussion groups offering a wide range of highly specialized topics.

The revealing of user identity has been a key stumbling block to use of email discussion groups - a stumbling block which EMAZING Grapevine has removed. In general, email discussion groups post users' email addresses whenever they post a message to a discussion. This can lead to unwanted, unsolicited email from a variety of outside sources. In contrast, with EMAZING Grapevine, all emailed discussion group contributions are posted under the user's EMAZING name, which cannot be tracked by outside parties.

In terms of specialized Grapevine subjects, EMAZING is "seeding" its first "grapevines" -- specialized email discussion groups -- to correspond with EMAZING's 60+ subject areas for its daily, free emailed "tips." Sample tip and Grapevine subject areas include such varied selections as Urban Fashion, Positive Living, Travel, Sports, Cooking and Business.

Whether Grapevine users want to talk about their favorite TV shows in a Movies & Television group, chat about Allergies in a Health group or search for that special someone in the Sex & Romance group, EMAZING's Grapevine service offers the on-line options.

As the Grapevine service gets under way, it has been designed to grow substantially beyond the range of tip subjects. To obtain the complete list of Grapevine topics, go to http://www.emazing.com and click on the Grapevine icon.

"We see the Grapevine service as the latest evidence of our efforts to accommodate every conceivable email need of our user base," said Joe Pierce, founder and general manager of EMAZING. "Grapevine builds exponentially on our free, emailed tips. We realize that if users are interested in certain tip areas, these subjects are important to them, and we can take the 'next step' and enable them to find others also interested in these same subjects to form private, virtual 'topic' communities."

To offer additional subject depth and up-to-the-minute information, EMAZING staffers and tip authors will participate in Grapevines wherever possible.

Users can create new Grapevines at any time. They simply fill out a form in which they identify the type of discussion they want to start and then submit it the EMAZING Grapevine "Vintner" The new Grapevine will typically become available within 24 hours.

EMAZING Grapevine has been designed as a user-policed community. "If users see discussion that they feel is inappropriate, they are encouraged to click on links to call the EMAZING "content cops," who will quickly investigate whether the discussion violates EMAZING's terms of service." said Tony Ennis, EMAZING Grapevine Product Manager. The terms of service dictate that there will be no hate speech, no excessive use of profanity and no discussion of anything resembling child pornography.

Current Grapevine developments include tie-ins to the newest EMAZING promotional events and sponsorships. In support of EMAZING's NASCAR sponsorship, EMAZING users can connect to the Grapevine to chat about the DeWalt Tools/EMAZING.com Ford Taurus driver, Matt Kenseth. In conjunction with EMAZING's national 25-city, six month U.S. Hummer Tour, EMAZING users can use the Grapevine to talk to the Hum-Vee limo's road crew, connect with tour participants in the 25 cities and so on.

EMAZING.com emails more than 60 specialized categories of tips to consumers free of charge, five days per week. EMAZING daily tips provide consumers with a wealth of up-to-the-minute information on themed categories and themed areas of interest, including household hints, business, computers and the Internet, health, fun, hobbies, money and travel. Tips are emailed at the beginning of each business day, and consumers can utilize an extensive, browseable tip archive, and can also email their favorite tips to friends.

To subscribe to any of the EMAZING Tips, users simply log on to www.emazing.com, select the tips they want to receive, and type in their email address. EMAZING will never rent or sell a subscriber's email address to a third party. And, subscribers can cancel their subscriptions at any time by clicking on a link provided within each tip.

About EMAZING

EMAZING.com is a service of EMAZING, Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based e-mail publishing company founded in 1998 and acquired by Sony Music in 1999. EMAZING (www.emazing.com) is led by Internet industry veteran Joe Pierce, who founded IDG's TipWorld service in 1996. EMAZING.com delivers news, comics, horoscopes, email greeting cards, and tips on more than 60 different topics ranging from art to woodworking to email boxes around the world every day.