2/16/00
Internet Startup Nearly Loses Domain Name in Registrar Mixup

REDWOOD SHORES, CA, February 16, 2000 - Contact Networks, Inc. (www.contact.com) today announced that it had fallen victim to a bureaucratic mistake that caused the company to nearly lose it's domain name. It wasn't until late in the evening on February 14th that Contact Networks discovered their contact.com domain had been taken away and given to a German software company. However, the accidental discovery that someone else now owned the domain during a routine "whois" search was enough to cause grave concern to this Internet startup, makers of a free 'living' address book that enables users to nurture their interpersonal relationships. By the end of a sleepless night for Contact Networks administrators, and SVP of Product Development Adam Hertz, it became clear that they had become a victim of the worldwide domain management reorganization being undertaken by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Contact Networks had only recently purchased its domain name of contact.com, planning to invest heavily in it as a consumer brand during its upcoming commercial product rollout. A loss of the domain name now would greatly disrupt these efforts. "We have begun our viral marketing campaign, inviting large numbers of key early adopters to visit our web site and download our product. Having our name hijacked just as we begin to build industry buzz for our service would have a horrible effect," explains Andy Halliday, Contact's President and Chief Executive Officer.
Ironically, the whole problem was caused by a mere clerical error that resulted when the German software firm, KasCada GbR requested the concat.com domain from their local European registrar, an affiliate of the CORE umbrella organization, and the name was mistyped somewhere along the way. The result was that CORE's request to their competitor, Network Solutions Inc, asked to transfer the contact.com name, not concat.com. NSI then transferred the domain to be henceforth managed by CORE.

The mere change of registrar wouldn't necessarily have been a problem if CORE hadn't then transferred ownership of the contact.com domain as well. Web administrators at Contact Networks had received a brief e-mail message on February 12th, stating that registrars were being changed, and were already concerned about what this meant, but there was no explanation as to where the domain was moving to.

Luckily, the ownership change hadn't yet been propagated throughout the Internet when the mistake had been discovered, and Contact Networks was able to reach engineers at CORE in Europe to prevent disaster for the young startup. For their lost night of sleep, and anxiety attack, the only thing Contact Networks ended up with was an apology from a CORE administrator, and an assurance that their procedures will be improved to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Contact Networks has already had a beta version of its 'living' address book, for free download, on their web site. This contact networking tool allows people to stay in touch with friends, family and associates, with automatic updates of contact information every time a contact changes a phone number, e-mail, address information, etc. Contact Networks will be officially launched later this year.

About Contact Networks
Contact Networks (www.contact.com) has developed the first personal relationship management solution offering a networking tool that allows users to stay in touch in a convenient, safe and secure environment, using instant access to live contact information and two-way permission-based communication. Contact Networks will forever change the way people use Internet, client and wireless technology to create and manage their personal network of contacts.
Contact Networks' first product is in private beta and plans to commercially launch later this year.
Based in Redwood Shores, California, Contact Networks is financed with $13 million, including venture capital from Accel Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.

For press inquiries contact:
Omer Malchin, VP, Marketing
Tel: (650) 610 3115