NEWTOWN, PA – July 9, 2001 — Afilias, the company selected by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to operate the new .INFO registry, today announced that Roland LaPlante has joined the company as its chief marketing officer. Mr. LaPlante joins Afilias from his most recent position as CMO and Executive Vice President of Xlibris, an Internet publishing company based in Philadelphia.

Mr. LaPlante has over 25 years of marketing and product management experience. He began his career at Procter & Gamble and since then has held senior positions at McGraw Hill, Providian Corporation, Citibank, and Heublein, Inc.

"We are very pleased that Roland is joining Afilias' management team," said Afilias CEO, Hal Lubsen. "Roland's marketing expertise will be invaluable as we rollout .INFO on a world-wide basis."

"I am looking forward to developing a brand that will change the culture of consumer Internet use," said Mr. LaPlante. "I see .INFO as a tremendous opportunity for companies to improve their brand strategy on the Internet by creating a better way to obtain information without a complicated search. .INFO will provide a simple and direct route to all sorts of information, no matter who you are or where you are located."

.INFO domain names will be the first of the new ICANN-approved global Top Level Domains (gTLDs) to become live and will be readily accessible through standard Web browsers on September 19, 2001. Registration for .INFO domain names will begin for trademark and service mark holders during the Sunrise Period on July 25, 2001, and will begin for the general public on September 12, 2001.