Interesting..heard that before.
He denies any wrongdoing ever...I PM'd him..but I think the
"Lady doth protest too much"
"Where there's smoke there's fire"
...I could be here all day..
But while at Raging Bull, I found this on KOOP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koop warrants and AOL deal, Media Metrix rates #1.
America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), the world's leading interactive services
company, and
drkoop.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: KOOP), the leading dedicated Internet healthcare
network led by Dr.
C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, today announced a four-year, $89
million
strategic alliance to bring drkoop.com's specially programmed health information,
services and
other resources to the largest consumer audience in cyberspace.
Through the partnership, drkoop.com will be the most expansive, premier health
content partner
across five AOL brands, providing AOL and CompuServe's combined
membership of 19 million
members -- as well as the millions more visitors to AOL.COM, Netscape
Netcenter and Digital
City - with consumer-focused resources on hundreds of health topics. The
companies expect to
rollout drkoop.com content across the AOL brands this fall.
Under the agreement, drkoop.com will provide AOL guaranteed payments totaling
$89 million
over four years. AOL will also receive fully vested and performance-based
warrants to purchase
shares in drkoop.com. To support sales efforts for the partnership, drkoop.com
will leverage
AOL's interactive sales force of over 600 to build advertising and e-commerce
opportunities
across all drkoop.com and its affiliate sites, as well as to support the rollout of
several new
products and services throughout the four-year agreement.
drkoop.com will utilize software from the Sun-Netscape alliance to power the AOL
rollout of its
services, acquiring a full range of software solutions including Netscape
Application Server,
Netscape Certificate Management System, Netscape Directory Server and
Netscape
CommerceXpert application software. The company will deploy these proven
solutions to ensure
the scalability and performance necessary to support e-commerce and the
anticipated dramatic
increase in traffic to drkoop.com sites as well as to continue to provide secure
access consistent
with both companies' strong stance on customer privacy.
Bob Pittman, AOL's CEO said, "We are delighted to have such a comprehensive
new alliance
with drkoop.com across our brands. drkoop.com is the nation's leading dedicated
online consumer
healthcare network, and for decades, Dr. Koop's message of openness and
education has
resonated with Americans as they have looked for the information that will allow
them to make
better health care decisions. With this new relationship, drkoop.com and America
Online are
joining in the cause to simply and conveniently provide sound, reliable health care
information,
advice and health management tools to all Americans."
Mr. Pittman continued, "This agreement is also a clear example of the end-to-end
e-commerce
solutions that AOL, the Sun-Netscape Alliance and Sun Microsystems as a
cohesive team can
bring to our enterprise customers. This arrangement enhances our relationship
with drkoop.com
and demonstrates the power this team can bring to bear to improve our
customers' business.'"
Dr. C. Everett Koop, chairman said, "The close relationship drkoop.com is
building with America
Online will put the power of information back in the hands of millions of Americans.
For every
person, in any place and at any stage of life, there's nothing more central to their
lives than the
health and the well-being of themselves and their loved ones. Working together
with AOL, we're
empowering millions of Americans to take control of their health care and
wellness decisions."
Don Hackett, drkoop.com president and CEO added, "This partnership firmly
establishes
drkoop.com's dominance in the online healthcare arena -- no one can boast the
traffic, presence
and critical mass that we've secured through this exciting alliance with AOL. For
consumers,
important healthcare information has just gotten that much easier to access. For
advertisers trying
to attract the attention of health-conscious consumers, drkoop.com will be the best
online partner
to consider."
The May 1999 Media Metrix report which provides a monthly measurement of
both online and
Web usage, cited drkoop.com as the #1 dedicated healthcare Internet site with
1.4 million unique
visitors, a position also achieved in April. The April 1999 Media Metrix report
indicated that
AOL's Health Channel is the #1health destination online, with more than two
million unique users
per month, more than twice as many visitors as other top health Web sites.
Combined, the two
online leaders pledge to maintain its focus on delivering quality, trusted healthcare
information,
products and services to all Americans. About AOL
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's
leader in
interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce
services. America
Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more
than 17 million
members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several
leading Internet
brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape
Netcenter and
AOL.COM portals; the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; and
AOL MovieFone,
the nation's # 1 movie listing guide and ticketing service. Through its strategic
alliance with Sun
Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end
e-commerce and
enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy. About
drkoop.com
The Company operates www.drkoop.com, the leading Internet-based consumer
healthcare
network. The Network consists of a consumer-focused interactive Web site that
provides users
with comprehensive healthcare information and services, as well as affiliate
relationships with
portals, other Web sites, healthcare organizations and traditional media outlets.
The drkoop.com
Network is an Internet healthcare initiative that integrates dynamic healthcare
content on a wide
variety of subjects, interactive communities and tools as well as opportunities to
purchase
healthcare-related products and services online. In addition to aligning with AOL,
drkoop.com is
also the exclusive provider of health and related content on three Web sites of the
GO Network:
GO Health Center, ESPN.com Training Room and the Family.com Health
Channel. drkoop.com
is also the premier health content provider for GO's ABCNEWS.com. Additional
information on
drkoop.com can be found at drkoop.com
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are based on current
expectations and
involve risks and uncertainties. drkoop.com cannot guarantee that actual future
events will not
vary materially from those described in this release. Specifically, the nature and
deployment of
new products and services is subject to revision due to technical and other
factors, and such
products and services may not be accepted by consumers. In addition, our traffic
growth is
subject to our ability to continue to attract and retain our audience of users by
providing healthcare
content, tools and other features, which meet the changing demands of those
users. For a further
discussion of the business risks faced by drkoop.com, please see the section
captioned ''Risk
Factors'' in our final prospectus filed June 8, 1999 with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
drkoop.com undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking
statements in this
release. |
