April 19, 1995  --  (Multiple Releases)

"ABOVE ALL," said Martin Heppner, "we wanted a system that was not only
easy to use but fun to use."

Heppner is chairman of Premier Online Systems Inc., which today launched a
new ground-breaking on-line service that promises to take computer
communications to a new level.

"You won't get a 950-page manual --- as I saw advertised the other day ---
to help you access the Internet."

With InfoNation, you won't need this or anything else, he added. You'll be
able to do so visually, without the usual complicated questions and
prompts that are required by most services.

"We wanted a system that was easy to understand . . . and something that
was a lot of fun.

"We want to give people a compelling reason to use their computers other
than for games and business applications, and with InfoNation, we think
we've done just that," said Heppner, who is president of Anchor
Securities, a Toronto securities dealer.

InfoNation does this by creating an elegant, next generation graphical
interface that puts you inside a virtual community. It goes far beyond a
"Windows" look and feel. InfoNation incorporates up-to-date graphics,
superior to anything else on the market today and it does this without
requiring you to change your existing computer and software. Even an old
IBM XT is compatible with InfoNation.

"That's because we put the intelligence into our custom online system
software."

Instead of a cursor, for example, InfoNation comes with a navigation tool
that takes you over 5,000 hectacres of prime cyberspace. Using this tool,
you'll be able to move from one recognized point on the InfoNation map to
another where you can access information, talk to people or review a vast
array of ideas. And you'll be able to do this locally as well as on the
Internet.

"In fact, one of  great things about InfoNation is that when you're on it,
you're in essence on the Internet. People out there on the Internet can
access you and this is a feature not many bulletin boards or on-line
services offer."

InfoNation's initial marketing focus will be individuals who are currently
using on-line services and the Internet, said Heppner.

"InfoNation is more convenient and intellectually much more elegant.
There's nothing complicated to understand or any kind of convoluted
process to go through.

"Our pricing structure is also easy to understand --- and quite
competitive. Combine this with its ease of use and its Internet
accessibility and InfoNation should prove quite popular."

The demographics are also right, said Heppner. The Greater Toronto area
encompasses a lot of people and there are really no competitive services
with the same technological edge.

Premier OnLine plans include developing other InfoNation centres across
North America under a franchise system. As envisioned, each would be
developed as a Regional Operating Centre but members would be able to
communicate with each other --- InfoNation Toronto with InfoNation Chicago
or Montreal, etc.

Each would provide local content --- news about local events and local
people, etc., much the way community newspapers do --- a need most on-line
systems fail to address.

"One of the interesting things about InfoNation is that if you want to do
business on the Internet, you can set yourself up as an information
provider. Basically, if that information is of interest to people, you can
charge for it."

As a user, all you need to do is move into the area where the information
is located, click on the building that houses the information and browse
around inside to see what the information covers before downloading it
into your computer. Information service providers are able to charge for
this information on a revenue-sharing basis. 

The feature will be of increasing importance to journalists who will no
longer be limited to the shelf space offered by publishers for their
products.

"InfoNation will provide the vehicle to bring their articles/features to
the market place in a way newspapers may not in the future."

In this sense, says Heppner, InfoNation and other similar services will
eventually become competitive with local newspapers in a number of
information areas.

"You'll no longer be married to the classified ad section of the newspaper,
for example. This can be quite expensive. With InfoNation, all you need to
do is post your ad on any one of the system's bulletin boards."

These bulletin boards will provide another important service --- a meeting
place for job seekers and companies looking for help. If your resum is
there, prospective employers will have an opportunity to look at your
qualifications and see if they match the job requirements.

Premier Online Systems has three other directors: Eric Gunnell,
vice-president of engineering; Robert Berg, chief financial officer; and
Scott Fletcher, one of the software developers.

"In many ways," adds Heppner, "InfoNation represents power to the people
--- a notion right out of the 1960s.

"Information is power and we have not yet seen the consequences of this . .
. but it's available now through InfoNation."
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YOU ONLY have to be on InfoNation a few minutes to know you're at the next
level of computer communications.

"It's not just another on-line service offering you easy access to the
Internet. It's a whole new concept . . . an opportunity to become a member
of a community that's real in every sense of the word," says Scott
Fletcher, who helped design and build InfoNation.

"We've taken the analogy of the every-day community that we see around us
and put it on line. And that's what sets us apart."

What kind of community? Everything, says Fletcher, that you'd see walking
down the street in real life.

Everything, except roads. There aren't  any simply because there are no
cars --- and no smog --- but you can walk around, go into buildings that
dot the landscape, go underground, even travel to different places.

"When we designed InfoNation, we knew there would be a problem in the
future with regional and national jurisdictions," said Fletcher, a partner
of Online Construction and Exploration Inc., a Toronto-based company
specializing in developing on-line services and applications.

The reason -- InfoNation is an on-line community and because it can be
accessed from anywhere in the world through Internet, it transverses 200
countries with 200 sets of rules.

"If I'm a retailer and I'm selling products on InfoNation around the world,
whose jurisdiction am I in? Why pays the tax? To whom? And how?

"How do you tax something that's everywhere at the same time?

"And if you're selling products or services that are legal in Sweden but
not legal in Canada, who's going to govern that? There's no mechanism in
place anywhere in the world to enforce the rules."

InfoNation is not just a box in a room --- but a box that connects people
all over the world, says Fletcher.

"What we're trying to do is create a separate country that has its own set
of rules, its own guidelines --- one that works much like any community we
see around us today but in a global way. A true 'global village'.

"It looks and works like a global village, too. It's more than just a
concept."

The company's brochure shows InfoNation Hall and the Mayor's House. And
everyone who goes on line with InfoNation will be able to enter these
buildings. Do business. Leave messages. And more.

In fact, anyone can erect their own building in InfoNation. And design it
--- inside and out --- right down to the wallpaper, paint and furniture.

It doesn't matter where they are --- Toronto, Moose Jaw, Hong Kong or San
Francisco -- they'll be able to reside there on line.

To erect your own building, just visit the InfoNation Hall Planning
Department --- you'll see it on your screen once you enter InfoNation ---
and you'll be given all the information and tools needed for the job,
including samples of other individuals' work.

The average user, says Fletcher, should be able to do it in less than a
day. Other than your time, no other costs are involved.

"After that's done, just tell us where you want us to put your building and
we'll do the rest."

Eventually, he adds, you'll be able to visit playgrounds, factories
(pollution free, of course), shopping malls, even churches and community
centres.

"You'll be able to set up a store or office in an existing office or
shopping complex --- and, just as in real life, you'll be able to decorate
that space the way you want.

"That space is yours and you'll be able to control it from anywhere in the
world. That includes information on your products, recorded video/audio
presentations, interactive brochures, catalogues . . . ."

All this, says Fletcher, plus all the other features offered by other
bulletin board services, including Internet access, electronic mail, live
chats, shareware, newsletters, catalogues, etc., but in a "much easier,
friendlier way".

Getting on InfoNation is the easy part. If you live in the Toronto area,
just dial 416-364-4636 and you're immediately there. Simple and
uncluttered. All you need is a modem and a telephone line.

In other areas of the world, InfoNation can be accessed through the
Internet (Telnet Nation. Org).

Cost is also simple. There's a minimum monthly fee of $9.50 a month. That
gives you 19 free hours. Extra hours are billed at 50 cents an hour.

In addition, there's a revenue-sharing arrangement for service providers.

"Basically," says Fletcher, "InfoNation is a governing body and it gets a
certain amount of revenue for governing and maintaining the community."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE INTERNET can be a fairly impersonal, complicated place to visit for new
users.

It can also be a fairly time-consuming exercise even for old hands, says
James MacFarlane, who helped to design and build InfoNation, a powerful
new on-line service in Toronto.

InfoNation solves both problems with an existing new graphical interface
and generally superior technology that breaks new ground in computer
communications. It literally puts you inside a virtual community where you
can do business, gather information or go on line with other users around
the world.

First of all, logging on to InfoNation is easy. It's simple and uncluttered
--- with an elegant graphical interface.

"Second, we've created a sophisticated data base that uses hypertext
technology which allows you to find what you're looking for in a matter of
seconds."

Other systems can take up to five or 10 minutes to search for things like
downloadable shareware files. InfoNation solves this problem by packaging
data under specific topics, says MacFarlane, one of the principals of
Online Construction and Exploration Inc., a Toronto-based company
specializing in developing on-line services and applications.

If you were looking for a picture of a sail boat, for example, most on-line
services would file it under a numbered directory, which the user would
manually have to search if they did not know where to begin. With
InfoNation, it's a simple matter of clicking on to sports, then on to
pictures.

Programs, images, data and sounds are filed the same way.

InfoNation accomplishes this through HAL, short for Hierarchical Library, a
new way to organize computer-based information.

"HAL does for digital information what the Dewey Decimal System does for
books. It recognizes that you can't categorize information the same way as
you do in a traditional library."

Structuring information will become even more important in the future, says
MacFarlane, as electronic communication and things like telecommuting
gradually take over from traditional business communication, much the same
way fax machines replaced the post office during the 1980s.

"Electronic mail will do this even more efficiently --- because you can
send messages to anyone, anywhere in the world for less than the cost of a
'phone call."

The problem with the  fax machine, he adds, is that it's static
communication. If you wanted an up-to-date report on the weather, for
example, you'll be far better off accessing that information --- including
live satellite images --- on line from Environment Canada, which has a
site on the World Wide Web.

"It's live and richer because you can get color, animation, video and
voice. It's multimedia mail."

For companies and organizations, electronic communication will allow them
to automate the way they communicate with their customers and the public.


"Instead of having a call centre where customers telephone, ask questions
and have someone at the other end either dig up that information and read
it to them on the spot or have it mailed for faxed to them, individuals
will be able to do that for themselves, 24 hours a day, with electronic
communication."

Many advertisers, he notes, are starting to include their Web address in
their ads where readers and viewers for more information.

The whole process of printing and delivering newspapers, for example, will
eventually change because electronic communication eliminates the physical
aspect of information entirely.

"The only difference is --- because you have immediate accesss to
information --- you'll be doing the driving. You'll decide how and when
you want that information. Someone else won't be doing the driving for
you."
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FOR VISITORS to InfoNation, getting lost --- even knowing where you are ---
could have been a real problem as it is for many users of the Internet.

"We knew we needed a companion, something users could take along with them
and be with them all the time," said Scott Fletcher, who helped design and
build InfoNation, an exciting new concept in computer communications.

The solution --- a special navigation tool that is available to users all
the time they're visiting InfoNation, a virtual community with buildings,
mountains and even lakes where users can do business, access information,
either locally or on the Internet or just have fun.

"It pops up on your screen and shows you what buildings are in each area .
. . as well as all the tools you need . . . communication devices, even a
storage locker you can access by simply clicking on the navigation tool
and a directional indicator that shows where you are on the InfoNation
map.

"It tells you everything you need to know. It's your own personal
information guide."

The navigation tool does much more. It allows users to separate the
functions of the system from the content, allowing users to concentrate on
what they're doing rather than how to get there, says Fletcher, a
principal of Online Construction and Exploration Inc., a Toronto-based
company specializing in developing on-line services and applications. 

"Everything we see in each of the buildings is all content. The things we
see on the navigation tool are functions that help you get around  the
system."

Press one button on the navigation tool and it'll take you to your mail
box. Another will tell you how much money you have left in your InfoNation
bank account or teleport you to another location. You can call up a
directory of all the buildings on line any where in the system at any
time.

"The navigation tool is always there. It's not something you have to go and
find."

It is also capable at moving at "warp" speed. If, for example, you want to
go to another building that's far away and you don't want to scroll across
the whole InfoNation map, you can "warp" your way there instantly ---
without having to wait for the screen to refresh or the rest of the map to
appear.

And if you're still not sure where you are, adds Fletcher, just press the
"Home" button on your keyboard and you're instantly back where you
started.

The navigation tool is one of the features that sets InfoNation apart from
other on-line services on the market today.

"With most on-line services, all you normally get is a command prompt and
the rest is up to you.

"For many users, especially novice users, that can be pretty intimidating,"
says Fletcher.
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InfoNation is the creation of two talented and imaginative on-line service
developers who fell in love with an idea three years ago.

"That idea was a dream service. We knew what it would look like, what it
would have. The only problem was that there wasn't any software out there
that would do what we wanted. So we designed and built it ourselves," said
James MacFarlane, one of InfoNation's creators.

"We thought out the idea from the ground up. We didn't think that a user
interface with an outerspace theme or just putting a good face on it was
enough. We had to think through a core philosophy before we did
anything."

Many Internet providers, he added, do very little to collect and organize
information that can be easily accessed by users.

"Internet is huge. There are literally thousands of places on the system
and a lot of them are difficult to use.

"We're providing a way to access the information in an easy manner that
doesn't require any knowledge about how the Internet works.

"In our system, for example, if I collected information on sailing, I could
put it in my own building on the system and sell that information to any
interested user.

"In that sense," said MacFarlane, "the primary operators of the system are
not us or our staff but the people who are providing services to others."

The name came from Scott Fletcher, the other developer of InfoNation.

"It stuck immediately. It sounds like 'information' and like 'nation' ---
technical but friendly  and, perhaps most important of all, it gives you a
sense of place," said MacFarlane.

MacFarlane and Fletcher are partners in Online Construction and Exploration
Inc., a Toronto-based company specializing in developing on-line services
and applications.

"We've tried hard to be different . . . to give the user a sense of
exploration . . . to be a participant . . . a sense of excitement and to
make InfoNation a fun place to visit."

On InfoNation, adds Fletcher, anything can happen. Anything. It can snow.
It can be Christmas every day. Or even experience of meteor storm. Anyone
on InfoNation can make it happen.

"Always something unexpected. Always something new. Quite possibly treasure
hunts and other community events users can take part in. Even a stamp
club," said Fletcher.

Each user will have the option of filling out a citizenship form and, if
they wish, include a picture of themselves, their home, sound samples,
resum's --- just about anything they want to include about themselves.

The information will be stored in their own data locker which other users
can call up and view.

"We've tried to make InfoNation a place where people can go and enjoy
themselves."

That, adds Fletcher, underlines the essential difference between InfoNation
and other Internet service providers, which are not social places where
people interact but data warehouses.

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