Surfing on the Three Rivers? On the Net, Pittsburgh is Riding the Digital Wave; High-Profile Pittsburgh-Based Sites Continue to Grow

Business Wire, April 17, 2000

Business Editors

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000

Pittsburgh's presence on the web continues to expand into various markets with an impressive assortment of highly visible "dotcom" companies.

Carnegie Mellon University's Lycos search engine remains the most popular of the Pittsburgh-based sites, but other notable companies growing in popularity include the high-tech Compunetics.com (with offices in Switzerland), the banner-advertising network DirectLeads.com, B2B auction site FreeMarkets.com, eBusiness solution experts CommerBuilder.com, and most recently, Domain Name reseller, MyEdentity.com, which specializes in domains for Business, Current and Future Technology, Health, Finance, and Online Shopping and Banking.

The website, http://www.MyEdentity.com, has attracted both national and local media interest. It is featured in the current issue of The Pittsburgh Business Times along with it's parent company, Bubsy.com. Also, the DotCom television series (hosted by Star Wars hero Mark Hamill), which airs on CNBC and Bravo, has expressed interest in the site for an upcoming story about domain names.

With over 100 names for sale, MyEdentity.com seeks to build its success by focusing on customer satisfaction. "Money is secondary with us," says John Kohnfelder, President of MyEdentity.com. "If we can help a customer choose the proper online identity that relates to their business through our large selection of highly descriptive domains, then we are overjoyed, and we will go the extra mile to make sure our customer is satisfied with that purchase." Continues Kohnfelder, "We will help with the marketing of their new domain by helping to write and distribute press releases and by linking their domain from our growing network of sites, including our parent company."

"While other sites offer sub-par names with extremely high prices, we focus on keeping our names descriptive, practical, and with words that complement each other, with a low price tag. We don't try to squeeze as much as we can out of our clients, but rather we try to be fair by getting the name in question appraised by at least four third-party professional domain appraisers and go from there."

Some of the names at MyEdentity.com are featured as "Showcase Names" at another domain name site. InsaneDomains.com features four names from MyEdentity.com. Usually bids are placed to be included in the elite list, but not with these names. President of the site, Brian Tinsley, explains, "We expect to get a great response with these premium names and didn't want them hidden in one our less popular pages." The names listed are HealthyDieting.com, DigitizedMedia.com, UpstartBusiness.com, and VisionCam.com (new technology - camera-powered sight for blind people).

    Other marquee names at http://www.MyEdentity.com:

    EssentialThinking.com - Business Consulting

    AllDigitized.com - for interactive media - music, movies, sound,
    etc.

    AlmightyDollar.com - discount coupon site

    HigherThought/HigherThinking.com - promoting elevated thought

    DigitallySigned.com - laws are currently being written to give
    secure digital "signatures" the same weight as handwritten
    signatures on contracts.

    TotallyRad.com - appeal to the younger crowd

    RushMyRx.com - online prescriptions via priority mail

    Bubsy.com - established portal with search, free email, games,
    advice column, etc.

    NewsTablet.com - the future of newpapers, in digital tablet form