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[June 17, 2004]

Bean-Net and BitPass Partner on Affordable Broadband Streaming Solution

WAYNE, Pa. and PALO ALTO, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Bean-Net, a streaming media service provider, and BitPass, a leading Internet payments company, have partnered to provide content providers with the first streaming solution designed to enable impulse purchases of premium streaming content.
Aimed at igniting the broadband streaming content industry in such diverse markets as entertainment companies, news organizations and online radio stations, the offering integrates BitPass' market-leading payment system with Bean-Net's global streaming infrastructure to deliver a turnkey solution that lets consumers buy access to live or archived streaming content such as live shows, broadcasts and music. BitPass' payment system enables consumers to purchase and access broadband content in just a few seconds.
Unlike competitive offerings that require a steep upfront development and integration fee, Bean-Net and BitPass provide a turnkey solution that can be deployed in as little as one day with little or no upfront fee.
"The combination of Bean-Net and BitPass made it possible for us to ramp up quickly and offer broadband streaming to paying listeners without losing our shirts," said Lou Gentile, Head of R&D for International Broadcasting Corporation (BULLETIN BOARD: IBCS) , which operates the Santa Maria, Calif.-based radio network ( http://www.ibcrn.com/ ).
John Simkiss, founder of Bean-Net, anticipates high demand among gamer communities, news sites and other industries that need an economical and user-friendly way to monetize rich-media, video and audio programming. "Content providers that routinely absorb bandwidth costs when they offer streaming content for free often pay the ultimate price by going out of business," he said. "With Bean-Net's first-rate streaming infrastructure and BitPass' easy-to-use online payment service, we provide a lifeline that empowers these companies to gain paying customers and offer premium streaming content without giving away the store."
BitPass' goal is to further expand the diversity of the Internet. "Our partnership with Bean-Net finally opens the door for content providers of all shapes, sizes and colors to provide immersive streaming content that their faithful fans will be willing to pay for," said Kurt Huang, BitPass' president, founder and chief product officer.
The Bean-Net and BitPass joint solution is optimized for Windows Media Player and is available immediately. Pricing for streaming starts at $2.40 per simultaneous listener for up to (and including) 128 Kbps.
According to recent statistics from Arbitron, online listenership is growing at an average 43% a year as more people get broadband connections at home and tune in for content that's unavailable or in short supply on commercial stations.
About Bean-Net
Bean-Net is a global stream host providing high-quality, value-priced audio and video streaming services to customers on six continents and in over 50 countries.
About BitPass
BitPass was founded in December 2002 to address the growing demand for digital content (music, video, photo, news, patents, etc.) and the need for publishers to efficiently monetize their online offerings. Since the company's production release of its online payment service in December 2003, BitPass has signed over 500 vendors listing over 25 million digital goods and services. The company received its first round of venture funding in July 2003 from Garage Technology Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital and Amicus Capital.
BitPass; Bean-Net


CONTACT: Johnny Wong of BitPass, +1-650-291-2440, or johnny@bitpass.com;or John Simkiss of Bean-Net, +1-610-570-8652, or jas3@bean-net.net


Web site: http://www.bitpass.com/

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