FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 May 7, 1999

CIC Announces Change in Management in Preparation for Playing a Leadership Role in Emerging Home Networking Industry

CIC, the Industry Interoperability Association Announces the Appointment of New Interim Executive Director and Plans to Work with All Home Networking Companies

Indianapolis, IN, May 7, 1999 - The CAL Interoperability Council (CIC, formerly the CEBus Industry Council), is a non-profit organization that facilitates the growth of home networking by providing the resources to ensure interoperability between multiple networking protocols. CIC announced today that Mike Coffey, who has led the organization from its inception is stepping down. Industry veteran, P. S. Vishwanath (Vish) will serve as the Council’s Interim Executive Director.

In making this announcement, Evan Price, President of Domosys Corporation and Chairman of the board of CIC, said, "CIC has been fortunate to have the services of Mike Coffey for all these years." Currently, the home networking arena is undergoing major changes with several new networking technologies and companies entering this area. As a result, our organization has to meet the challenge of ensuring interoperability as these new products come into the market, while educating consumers about the benefits of home networking".

"Vish has been involved in this arena for over 10 years and the Council’s Board believes he has the background and the experience to help the organization make the transition to meet the rapidly changing needs of the home networking marketplace. His mandate is to position CIC to play a leadership role in this industry," Price added.

"I am excited to be given this wonderful opportunity. I look forward to working with current members of this dynamic organization and setting up strategic partnerships with all of the other home networking organizations and companies. I strongly believe in the Board's vision that the industry needs an organization that ensures products based on various networking technologies and media work together. I welcome the challenge of effectively getting that message to consumers," said Vishwanath.

CIC, established in 1994, was initially focused exclusively promotion and use of the CEBus standard. The Electronic Industry Association (EIA) promotes the development of this open home automation standard. It has been applied to products based on power line and RF media for residential, commercial and utility control applications. As other home networking technologies entered the market in recent years, the need for a common language to ensure interoperability became evident. CIC offered the Common Application Language (CAL) and the Home Plug & Play interoperability guidelines to the industry as a viable solution to solve the problem of interoperability. Home Plug & Play also provides uniform interoperability labeling for all home networking products.

In addition, the CIC has established a test facility in Indianapolis called PlugLab, operated in conjunction with the Purdue University, to ensure conformance of products to various protocol specifications. Discussions are on-going with other networking technology vendors and organizations to have their products tested at this facility to ensure broader conformance and interoperability. Along with that, CIC’s Home Plug & Play labeling scheme informs consumers about the capabilities of the products they buy for their home networking needs.

For additional information on PlugLab and the CIC, visit our Web site at www.cebus.org. As the discussions with other organizations mature, further announcements in this regard are expected in the near future. Home networking organizations and companies interested in working with CIC and the PlugLab, can contact CIC for further discussions.

About the CIC

CIC is a multi-industry organization of companies, incorporated as a non-profit corporation, to develop and enlarge the market for products compliant with the CEBus Standard and/or the Common Application language (CAL) as implemented in the Home Plug & Play Specification. The Council maintains the value of its certification marks while facilitating interoperability among products, and with multiple protocols, through the maintenance of the Standard and Specification, its application data base, product testing, and conformance certification.

Contact Information:
Evan Price
Chairman
(418) 681-8022 – ext. 223