Court Issues Permanent Injunction Against Cybersquatters in Dispute with Nasdaq Over Domain Name Ownership

Settlement Agreement Reached to Transfer Ownership of Domain Name to Nasdaq

Thursday, June 15, 2000

Washington, D.C.- The Nasdaq Stock Market^® (Nasdaq) announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order on June 12 directing that ownership of the domain names "NASDAQEUROPE.COM" and "NASDAQEUROPE.NET" be transferred to Nasdaq. This order follows a settlement agreement reached by Nasdaq with United Kingdom-based Deltacross Limited, after Nasdaq filed legal proceedings against Deltacross for infringement of the "Nasdaq" trademark. The order also permanently enjoins Deltacross and any of its associated parties from registering the "Nasdaq" trademark as part of any domain name in the future.

On April 25, 2000, Nasdaq filed a complaint pursuant to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15 USC 1125(d), with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging that the domain names "NASDAQEUROPE.COM" and NASDAQEUROPE.NET" were wrongfully and without authorization registered for use by Deltacross Limited with U.S.-based Register.com. Under Register.com's registration agreement, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, the use of a domain name should not interfere with or infringe upon the rights of any third party and should not be registered for any unlawful purpose.

Edward Knight, Chief Legal Officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), parent company of The Nasdaq Stock Market^® upon issuance of the order commented, "We are very pleased with the outcome of these proceedings. We will continue to make protection of the "Nasdaq" trademark our highest priority in order to ensure that our brand name is exclusively identified with the high quality products and services that have been the hallmark of Nasdaq's business for nearly 30 years."

Nasdaq and the NASD own numerous trademarks and service marks containing "Nasdaq" for various financial products and services. "Nasdaq" has been in continuous use in U.S. commerce since 1968 and is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom and 38 other countries around the world. Nasdaq and the NASD have also registered and are using many domain names containing "Nasdaq" in connection with active websites which include content originating from or approved by the organization. These include Nasdaq.com, Nasdaqnews.com, Nasdaqtrader.com, and Nasdaq-uk.com. Nasdaq.com is one of the world's most popular financial websites, currently receiving over 50 million hits per day.

On May 3, 2000, Nasdaq Europe Ltd., announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding to enter a joint venture agreement with iX (comprised of the London Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Börse) to provide for a wide ranging, globally linked pan-European market for the listing and trading of initial public offerings, US and Asian and other international securities and "new economy" stocks from all across Europe. The Nasdaq Europe website can currently be found at NASDAQ-EUROMARKET.com

The Nasdaq Stock Market lists nearly 5,000 companies, has a larger dollar volume, and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Nasdaq is a subsidiary of the NASD, the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq Newsroom^SM at www.nasdaqnews.com. For more information on Nasdaq Europe, visit the Nasdaq Europe web site at www.nasdaq-euromarket.com

Contacts:
Judy Inosanto
(212) 858-4223