KOZ.com Completes Acquisition of ichat Product Line and Customer Base from Acuity Corporation.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 1999--

New versions of all ichat products and community publishing system

will be available in the third quarter

KOZ.com, the leader in extending real-world communities onto the Internet, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the ichat(TM) product line and customer base from Acuity Corporation. The ichat line of market-leading, real-time chat, message boards and instant messaging products is now available directly through KOZ.com. Support and implementation assistance are available to new and existing customers.

"With the completion of this important acquisition, KOZ.com now offers a complete spectrum of interactive online community tools and programs," said Bruce Milligan, vice president of marketing for KOZ.com. "We can address the needs of any customer who wants to create online communities at whatever level is appropriate -- from an individual implementation of online chat and messaging to the most sophisticated multi-user, enterprise-wide community initiative that our Community Publishing System makes possible."

KOZ.com is updating all ichat client and server products and, separately, will integrate them into the company's flagship product, Community Publishing System(TM)(CPS). New versions of all ichat products and CPS will be available early in the third quarter of 1999.

KOZ.com is also fully committed to enhancing, supporting and marketing the ichat suite of products. The company is currently responding to customer input by upgrading the ichat Rooms plug-in to work with the latest versions (4.0 and above) of Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows-based computers. The updated plug-ins will be distributed to ichat Rooms customers and will be available for public download via www.ichat.com after May 18, 1999.

"The development of 'Community' on the Internet requires a fine-tuned, seamless integration of key community components, such as chat, home pages, newsletters, bulletin boards and calendars," said Peter Krasilovsky, program director of Local Online Commerce for The Kelsey Group, Princeton, N.J. "KOZ.com has emerged as one of the leading -- and best -- providers of such integrated 'community' solutions. It is one of the most significant community system providers not associated with a portal."

The ichat product set includes ichat Rooms, ichat Boards and ichat Paging System. All three products integrate seamlessly, allowing fast integration of small- or large-scale Internet community tools. The product set includes:

--ichat Rooms - a massively scalable chat application that allows dynamic, real-time communications and collaboration. ichat Rooms offers several different client options allowing Windows, Macintosh and Unix systems to easily connect and communicate. ichat Rooms can support up to 50,000 simultaneous users and provides easy ad banner integration.

--ichat Boards - provides interactive, threaded discussions with no additional client software needed. The browser-based ichat Boards offers a highly configurable interface, NNTP client support, moderated topics and text searches.

--ichat Paging System - allows users to send instant, high-priority messages to customers and associates. This highly scalable system supports tens of thousands of simultaneous users, allowing easy communication with individuals or groups of users by sending instant messages, URLs or links to live audio streams.

In addition to the product software code, KOZ.com also received as part of the acquisition:

--The rights to service 650,000 members of the ichat Pager (instant messaging) and Open24(TM) chat services;

--2,100 corporate clients who have licensed ichat products in the past three years;

--The consumer and corporate sales prospect databases;

--ichat's database of nearly two million opt-in e-mail addresses.

Pricing and Availability

KOZ.com has established lower, competitive pricing on all ichat products, both with and without support service packages. The ichat products are available directly through KOZ.com by calling [phone] or visiting www.ichat.com. E-mail support is available by contacting [e-mail].

Related Announcements

In a related news release KOZ.com today announced that Knight Ridder New Media, a division of Knight Ridder, the nation's second largest newspaper publisher, will also roll out CPS within its Real Cities(TM) network. Today, KOZ.com also launched its Affiliate Marketing ToolKit that provides local media outlets with all the information, resources and coaching required to launch a successful community Web site. Additionally, KOZ.com announced that MediaNews Group and Donrey Media will also roll out CPS to 175 local newspaper sites.

About KOZ.com

KOZ.com reinvents communities online and is the undisputed leader in helping established, real-world communities extend themselves onto the Internet. KOZ.com sells its flagship Community Publishing System(TM) (CPS) product to publishers and membership organizations that want to set up Web communities based on real communities, organizations, families, schools and other groups. KOZ.com also recently acquired the ichat product line, which includes ichat Rooms (chat), ichat Boards (message boards), and ichat Pager (instant messaging) tools.

KOZ.com was co-founded by Frank Daniels, III, who served as executive editor of the Raleigh News and Observer and founded the pioneering Nando.net news site. Voted one of DigitalSouth's 50 companies to watch in 1999, KOZ.com has received investments from CMG@Ventures, Encompass Ventures, BancBoston Ventures, SG Capital Partners, Guy Gannett Communications, Southeast Interactive Technology Funds, The Bergen Record and other private investors. KOZ.com's marketing partners include IBM and The Sports Source. The ZineZone has a content partnership with KOZ.com. Visit KOZ.com at www.koz.com.

Note to editors: Community Publishing System, CPS and ichat are trademarks of KOZ.com. All other company and product names are the property of their respective owners.