Smarte Solutions Partners With DCA, an Industry Leader in Mastering CD and DVDs, to Deliver Superior Copy Protection.

Business Editors & High-Tech/Entertainment Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2002

SmarteCD(tm) Technology Will Allow for the

Fail Safe Replication of Copy-Protected Digital Media

Smarte Solutions Inc., the leading provider of piracy management solutions, and DCA Inc., an industry-leading provider of mastering equipment for CDs and DVDs, have announced an agreement whereby Smarte Solutions' copy protection system, SmarteCD(tm), will be supported within DCA's encoding equipment, allowing for the secure replication of SmarteCD-protected CDs and DVDs.

This agreement is an industry-standard for reliable copy protected software at the equipment level.

According to the agreement, DCA will enable their encoding equipment to support SmarteCD's protection technology during the signal processing of optical disc masters. The result is a fail-safe mechanism for eliminating vulnerabilities within the mastering process by altering the media and preventing it from being duplicated or digitally reproduced, rendering a pirated copy useless.

"Enabling SmarteCD piracy management technology within our equipment allows our customers to deliver an increased level of copy protection for their clientele's software and Intellectual Property," said Doug Carson, president of DCA Inc. "This alliance will provide a much-needed assurance to our clients that providing SmarteCD will be a simple addition to their existing processes."

SmarteCD offers a cost-effective and flexible piracy management solution that resides entirely within the CD media itself. The transparent technology can distinguish an originally licensed CD from a forgery. The result is that software manufacturers can effectively render forged application CDs unusable by preventing unauthorized users from copying CD-ROM content to the hard drive.

"When it comes to copy protection, many people think of the entertainment industry," said Joshua Duhl, consultant, Rich Digital Asset Management, eBusiness Applications at IDC Research. "But this level of protection will benefit multiple types of markets that produce software solutions, including research reports, university courseware and licensed software that are currently losing significant revenue to piracy on a daily basis."

According to the Business Software Alliance, software piracy costs $10.1 billion a year in lost sales worldwide. "The agreement between DCA and Smarte Solutions is particularly significant because DCA has over 13 years' experience in CD mastering equipment, and the majority of CD replicators rely on DCA solutions for reliable daily production," noted Bala Vishwanath, president of Smarte Solutions. "We view this as an opportunity to benefit the vast number of software and content vendor customers by delivering a secure product, thus protecting their investments."

Pricing and Availability

SmarteCD was introduced on May 23, 2002, in Los Angeles at the E3 Exposition. Pricing, demonstrations and beta versions of the software can be obtained by calling Smarte Solutions at 512/443-8749 (www.smartesolutions.com) or DCA at 918/225-0346 (www.dcainc.com).

About Smarte Solutions Inc.

Smarte Solutions Inc. provides software and content vendors the necessary tools, techniques and consulting services to secure and manage the authorized use of their digital assets. Smarte Solutions has identified the major deficiencies of early anti-piracy products and has specifically designed its systems to provide transparent piracy protection and digital asset management tools that incorporate revenue-generating, distribution enhancing programs. The development of Smarte's complete spectrum of piracy and digital asset management products offers customers flexible solutions to meet their digital asset management needs. Contact Smarte Solutions Inc. at 611 S. Congress Ave., Suite 350, Austin, Texas, 78704; Tel: [phone] and Fax: [phone]. To learn more about Smarte Solutions visit the company's Web site at http://www.smartesolutions.com/.

About DCA Inc.

DCA Inc. (Doug Carson & Associates) (http://www.dcainc.com) is the industry-leading provider of world-class signal-processing technology. Since 1988, CD and DVD manufacturers worldwide have relied on DCA's pre-mastering, mastering and verification products for optical discs, including copy-protected discs. DCA's products include MIS (Mastering Interface System), SVS+ (Signal Verification System), INMS (Integrated Network Mastering System). DCA has also been responsible for the signal processing of many special formats for the optical disc industry, including the Xbox Game Console by Microsoft and Dataplay.

SmarteCD is a trademark of Smarte Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.

MIS, SVS+ and INMS are trademarks of DCA Inc.

Xbox and Microsoft are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.