Thomson & Thomson Kicks-Off Namestake.com Link Network

Enables ISPs, Registrars and Web Hosting Services To Offer Users Advanced
Domain Name Registration

BOSTON — Sept. 22, 1998 — Thomson & Thomson (T&T), global trademark and
intellectual property experts, today announced the Namestake.com Link
Network, a partnership program targeting ISPs, registrars and Web hosting
services. The program enables partners to bolster their domain name
registration service offerings and earn revenues without incurring set-up
costs. By providing customers access to Namestake.com’s free, real-time,
domain name/trademark screening tool, partners can help customers
registering domain names, avoid potential trademark infringement and
protect their online brand identities.

With the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) registration monopoly ending, an
increasing number of companies will enter the registration business to
capitalize on this exploding market. Each day, more than 7,000 domain names
are being registered worldwide, making it increasingly difficult to create
and manage online identities. By joining the Namestake.com Link Network,
ISPs, registrars and Web hosting services can offer customers the most
powerful domain name registration service by linking to the Namestake site,
www.namestake.com, or simply embedding the Namestake.com logo into their
Web site.

“The complexities surrounding the domain name issue will become magnified
with the September 30 deadline ending NSI’s monopoly on gTLD registrations.
Emerging market players must provide customers with the appropriate
information on domain names and trademarks to help them build online
brands,” said Tom Barrett, vice president and general manager, Thomson &
Thomson’s Namestake.com. “Partnering with Namestake.com will provide ISPs,
registrars and Web hosting services the necessary information and tools to
attract and retain customers, while increasing revenues.”

Unlike other domain name search tools, Namestake.com provides users with
the closest domain name matches, including plurals and punctuation, and a
hit count of close similarities for free. Users can also purchase in-depth
reports, which include relevant information from the InterNIC and the 247
other International Top Level Domains, as well as the U.S. Federal
Trademark database. In addition, the site provides educational content
including trademarks and domain name facts and white papers.

The Namestake.com service was developed to address the critical issues
associated with building brands on the Internet. As companies continue to
extend their brands to the Web, and create new online brands, they are
finding that the stakes for establishing and protecting unique and
memorable online identities are extremely high.

Namestake.com Pricing

FREE — Exacts, plurals and punctuation match domain name report (for
.com, .net and .org)

FREE Hit count of similarities from InterNic, 247 International Domain
Name Registries and U.S. Federal trademark databases

$25 — Comprehensive match of similarities (includes similarities,
exacts, plurals and punctuation) domain name report from InterNIC

$75 — U.S. Federal trademark report

$175 — International domain name report

About Thomson & Thomson (T&T)

Thomson & Thomson, a subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation, is the world
leader in trademark and copyright research. After 75 years in business, the
company has become a global organization with operation centers in
Montreal, Antwerp, Milan, Stockholm and Tokyo. It maintains the world’s
largest collection of international trademark information, and provides a
variety of search and monitoring services to its Fortune 500 clients.
Additionally, it maintains a database of domain names from more than 247
countries.

About Thomson Corporation (TTC)

With annual revenues approaching $6 billion, The Thomson Corporation is one
of the world’s leading information and publishing companies. TTC’s common
shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal and London stock exchanges. For
more information, please visit TTC’s Internet address at www.thomcorp.com.