MDCHOICE.COM
LAUNCHES FREE INTERNET SERVICES FOR PHYSICIANS THROUGH AN AGREEMENT WITH
1STUP.COM
New FreeNet Service Provides Free Access to Promote the
Open Exchange of Medical Information Among Medical Professionals and Patients
SOMERVILLE,
NJ, June, 2000- MDchoice.com, a leading gateway to the best online medical
information resources for physicians and consumers, today announced
the company has added free Internet access to its suite of services
for healthcare professionals through an agreement with 1stUp.com Corporation,
a leading provider of private-label Internet access solutions and a
majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc. The FreeNet service is
just one of many MDchoice.com services aimed to simplify the lives of
physicians by leveraging the value of the Internet.
"Providing free
Internet access to physicians is a logical extension of our mission,"
said Dr. Ash Nashed, CEO of MDchoice.com. "MDchoice.com's free Internet
services are targeted for physicians who are not yet online, but who
are eager to discover the power of the Internet to help them run their
practices better and to find medical information."
MDchoice is
dedicated to employing the power of today's interactive technologies
to enhance the quality of healthcare delivery and communications between
physicians, patients and the entire medical community. To promote these
goals, MDchoice.com has eliminated the access costs of dial-up connection
to the Internet for physicians using MDchoice.com for Internet access.
"Through our
relationship with MDChoice.com and other leading consumer brands, 1stUp.com
is helping lead the private label Internet access movement," said Jonah
Steinhart, vice president of marketing and corporate communications
at 1stUp.com. "Taking advantage of 1stUp.com technology, MDChoice.com
is able to integrate content and branding into an impressive Internet
service offering and establish a constant online connection with consumers.
This potent blend of high performance connectivity and quality content
is competitive with any free or fee-based Internet service on the market
today."
Physicians wishing
to sign-up for free Internet access must register on the MDchoice.com
Web site. Once registered, physicians will be directed to http://www.mdchoice.com/freeisp.asp
for the link to download the free software and immediately gain free
Internet access.
About MDchoice.com
Consistently
ranked among the top healthcare sites by PC Data, MDchoice.com is a
leading medical information Web site that provides physician reviewed
and approved medical information through its proprietary UltraSearch
search engine. It is unique among medical sites in offering only medical
information that has been pre-reviewed by its panel of board-certified
physicians.
MDchoice.com
is in the process of developing a variety of online services for physicians,
which include allowing physicians to create their own Web sites at no
cost, providing secure e-mail to connect patients and doctors, and will
soon be offering discount medical supplies. Visit www.MDchoice.com
for additional information regarding MDchoice.com, its editorial review
board or investor inquiries.
About 1stUp.com
1stUp.com, a
majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., is a market leader in
providing online and offline brand names with private label Internet
access solutions and innovative advertising technology. 1stUp.com's
patent-pending technology enables its distribution partners to brand,
market and distribute free and cost-effective Internet services to their
customers.
Multiple leading
ISPs support 1stUp.com's extensive ISP network to provide reliable connectivity.
The 1stUp.com network is the largest in North America based on total
dial-up numbers and delivers reliable Internet access to over 95 percent
of the U.S. and Canada. 1stUp.com powers Internet access solutions for
leading brands like AltaVista, Excite@Home, Lycos, Gratis1 by StarMedia,
and more than 100 additional brands. By aggregating the over 3.5 million
registered subscribers of its distribution partners, 1stUp.com is able
to pass along the benefits of optimal connectivity costs and advertising
revenues to those partners.
For more information,
visit www.1stup.com. 1stUp.com Corporation is located at 575 Market
St., Suite 1000, San Francisco, CA 94105. Telephone: 415-293-4700.
This release contains
forward-looking statements which address a variety of subjects including,
for example, the expected benefits of the agreement between 1stUp and
MDchoice.com and the expected capabilities of MDchoice.com to offer
free Internet access and related services. The following important factors
and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in these forward-looking statements:
1stUp's products and technologies may not successfully interoperate
with those of MDchoice.com; 1stUp's business model is dependent upon
advertising and may be adversely affected by the adoption of new laws
and regulations affecting the provision of Internet advertising services,
including laws and regulations covering privacy, pricing and content;
and increased competition and technological changes in the markets in
which 1stUp competes. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary
statements, please refer to CMGI's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including CMGI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most
recently ended fiscal year.
1stUp and 1stUp.com are trademarks
of 1stUp.com Corporation.
All other products and services
mentioned may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
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