LanMinds Introduces New Internet Top Level Domain Choice -- .fam for Families; Announcement Follows Approval of eDNS Charter and Availability of eDNS Servers Offering Additional Top Level Domain Choices.

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1997--LanMinds, Inc. today announced a new Top Level Domain (TLD) for registering Internet names for families.

The .fam TLD will allow users to register domains under the .fam suffix at a cost significantly less than that of InterNIC registered domains. Available for use April 1, 1997, .fam domain registration will cost $21/year, compared with $50/year for the same service from InterNIC. A complete package of a .fam TLD and domain name resolution services will cost $42/year. The creation of the .fam domain suffix follows an agreement reached at a March 3rd meeting in Atlanta, GA of Internet engineers, developers and businesses where the Enhanced Domain Name Service (eDNS) Charter was ratified and signed. The eDNS Charter includes and expands upon the recent efforts by the Internet Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) to create new Internet TLDs.

"Prior to the existence of eDNS, anyone who wanted to register their name as their Internet domain name had no choice but to register as a .com, .org, etc.," explained Jim Dueltgen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with LanMinds. "Given the limited scope of the IAHC domain name proposal, LanMinds and the eDNS Charter signatories have decided to expand the TLD space to provide more choices for people. We're acting immediately on the ability to expand these choices by offering .fam to families around the country and internationally, many of whom will use their family's surname, though that's not a requirement."

"In fact, dysfunctional.fam has already been requested," continued Dueltgen. "Our mailing list has been queuing up the requests since last summer, so we're confident that there is a strong popular demand for this TLD. We've joined forces with other ISPs and Internet service companies who don't believe that all TLDs should be forced to conform to one business model and one set of registration policies. Rather, we support an open environment which we believe is in the consumer's best interest."

LanMinds will be offering two domains for the price of one with each .fam TLD registration. One domain name will be in the form of name.fam and the other will be in the form of name.fam-net.net. "eDNS names are not universally recognized on the Internet right now but will be shortly as ISPs reconfigure their DNS servers to resolve these new names. We want to give families a place holder in the eDNS system while giving them a universally recognized domain right now," explained Gary Morrell, President of LanMinds. LanMinds will also be offering several additional services to the .fam TLD, including a web page for each .fam TLD of the form http://www.familyname.fam and e-mail forwarding so that a user can have their .fam e-mail address follow them to their ISP of choice.

Parties interested in registering a .fam domain name can do so by starting at http://www.LanMinds.com/ and following the links from there for .fam and eDNS information. To join the .fam mailing list send email to [e-mail].

eDNS Charter Opens Availability to TLDs

Intended to resolve the problems revolving around TLD ownership, control, and certification, the eDNS Charter establishes a consensus agreement for the development and implementation of an alternative infrastructure for the creation of additional top level domains and the governance of name assignments within those TLDs. The eDNS Charter members include several ISPs and supporting technology companies who are working together to broaden the existing Internet Assigned Names Authority's (IANA) worldwide root server capabilities with a faster infrastructure that eliminates barriers to open competition for the assignment of Internet domain names.

"When IANA was chartered as the sole registrant for the vastly popular ".com" and ".net" top level domains years ago, no one knew that the Internet was going to become the global exchange that it has developed into," noted Karl Denniger, eDNS founder and president of Chicago-based ISP MCSNet. "The popularity of the Internet, however, has simply eclipsed the ability of any one body to effectively and fairly administer this truly global network. eDNS promotes an improved infrastructure based on the sound principle that open competition leads to a better product and improved service."

The alternative eDNS infrastructure promotes the creation of numerous additional TLDs such as ".per," ".biz," and ".web," all of which will be controlled by a variety of registries that compete openly in a fair, minimalist and impartial manner. The eDNS Charter formally incorporates the existing IANA and ISO country code TLDs as well as the AlterNic's current registries and the non-conflicting portion of the IAHC's latest recommendations.

In addition to LanMinds and MCSNet, parties to the agreement currently include the AlterNic, a registration authority, along with multiple registries and/or ISPs including American Global Network, Inc., Image Online Design, Iperdome, Skyscape, U.S. Data Highway Corp., and VecNet. Additional computer capabilities have been installed to handle the increased activity on the root level. eDNS is expected to be fully functional by April 1. ISPs and other parties interested in supporting eDNS are encouraged to go to http://www.edns.net/ .

About LanMinds

LanMinds, Inc., headquartered in Berkeley, CA, is an Internet Service Provider and computer network consulting firm supplying complete network solutions to businesses and individuals. From the most simple one-computer operations to the most complex interconnected networks, LanMinds provides evaluation, design and installations services, network enhancements, and on-going support. To reach LanMinds call 510/THE-NETWork (510/843-6389) or toll free at 888/420-0420 or send email to [e-mail].

CONTACT: LanMinds

Jim Dueltgen, 510/843-6389

[e-mail]

or

Naomi Pearce, 510/528-0824 (for LanMinds)

[e-mail]