RuleSpace Expands Contexion Services; Automated Content Recognition Solution Supports Additional Languages, Features New Productivity Categories.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

PORTLAND, Ore. & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001

Networld+Interop, Booth 3305-- RuleSpace, Inc., the leading provider of automated content recognition, today announced the availability of Contexion(TM) Services Version 3.1.

This latest version includes Contexion List Service, a new implementation option that enables Internet access control vendors to build more effective Internet filtering applications with minimal development effort. In addition, Contexion Services Version 3.1 features recognition of content written in multiple languages, enabling filtering solutions offered by both Internet access control vendors and Internet service providers (ISPs) the broadest available coverage of web content. The latest version of Contexion Services also includes 13 new productivity categories for vendors providing filtering solutions to enterprises concerned about employees "cyberloafing" on the job, and includes network infrastructure enhancements for improved service availability and reliability.

"Contexion Services is powering the next generation of Internet filtering applications," said Charlie Kawasaki, CEO and president, RuleSpace, Inc. "Our customers, which include leading ISPs and Internet access control vendors such as America Online, France Telecom and Intel, rely on Contexion Services' automated, neural network-based technology to provide the most accurate, comprehensive and consistent recognition of inappropriate content available."

Contexion Services is a product family that provides automated content recognition for Internet applications, enabling a more consistent and precise way to monitor, block, report and manage web content. Contexion Services implementation options include Online Lookup Service (OLS), which provides a subscription-based ASP model for instant access to web site category ratings, Embedded Analysis Toolkit (EATK), which enables applications to recognize web content in real-time, and now Contexion List Service (CLS), a list subscription service for Internet access control vendors or ISPs currently offering list-based Internet filtering applications.

New Contexion List Service Increases Implementation Flexibility

Contexion List Service provides an inventory of web sites known to exist within a recognized category. Utilizing the same infrastructure that powers Online Lookup Service, Internet access control vendors and ISPs can augment or replace their existing control lists with the Contexion List Service to give their Internet filtering applications access to the broadest available list of URLs in selected categories.

New Categories Increase Breadth of Web Coverage

Contexion Services Version 3.1 includes two new category bundles featuring global language support -- Global Pornography (available in EATK, OLS and CLS) and Global Inappropriate (available in OLS and CLS). These additional categories allow Internet access control vendors and ISPs to cover more of the publicly-accessible Web, recognizing inappropriate content written in Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. This global language support not only enables RuleSpace customers to broaden their content recognition solutions with more accurate and complete filtering, but also opens them up to new market opportunities.

In addition, the latest version of Contexion Services includes 13 new productivity categories for vendors serving enterprises concerned about liability and loss of productivity. These categories include Criminal Skills, Cult, Finance & Investing, Glamour, Hacking, Job Search, Lifestyle, News, Occult, Personals & Dating, Shopping, Sports, and Travel. Enterprise filtering applications using Contexion Services are now able to monitor, block, report and manage a wider variety of web content, encompassing both inappropriate and productivity-related categories.

"Gartner estimates that about five percent of enterprise workers engage in inappropriate online behavior at the office, ranging from simple `cyberloafing' to using company Internet access to hold down a second job," said Bill Gassman, senior analyst at Gartner, a research and advisory firm. "Businesses need advanced filtering options to create guards against Internet abuse by employees without unduly infringing on personal privacy or impeding legitimate Internet use."

Enhanced Infrastructure Improves Availability and Reliability

Contexion Services Version 3.1 features an enhanced Online Lookup Service network architecture that includes support for global deployment of access points, global network load balancing and automated service redirection in the event of an access point service interruption. These infrastructure enhancements enable faster access with lower latency, while ensuring consistent service availability for Internet access control vendors and ISPs serving customers worldwide.

Automated, Broad Recognition Analyzes Both Content and Context

Rather than relying on human editors, Contexion Services provides automated categorization based on patent-pending neural network technology. The next-generation content recognition service's automated nature enables it to scale with the Internet's rapid growth, crawling the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. Contexion Services also provides the broadest web coverage possible through the largest, continuously updated database of inappropriate web content available today.

In addition, rather than relying on keyword searches -- which can potentially over-block useful and appropriate site content -- Contexion Services' next-generation technology analyzes both the words on a page and the context in which they are used, and even recognizes dynamically generated content, such as search results or personalized pages.

About RuleSpace

RuleSpace, Inc., a privately held corporation located in Portland, Ore., is an Internet infrastructure vendor that powers Internet applications with its Contexion Services product family, which provides automated web content recognition technology and services that instantly recognize web content and facilitate the delivery of relevant web information. Solutions powered by Contexion Services enable Internet access control vendors, ISPs and Portals to deliver more meaningful and appropriate information to users as they surf the Web. More information on RuleSpace is available at www.rulespace.com.