SPRYNET "GROUP CONNECT" DELIVERS FLEXIBLE AND AFFORDABLE INTERNET ACCESS
SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES

CompuServe's Popular Internet Service Offers Corporate Customers Worldwide
Account Creation, Home Page Hosting and Customer Care

BELLEVUE, Wash., April 17 -- SPRY, CompuServe's Internet Division, today
announced the immediate availability of SPRYNET Group Connect, a corporate
billing program for organizations needing to provide individual dial-up
Internet access and e-mail to employees, vendors or customers. SPRYNET
Group Connect gives corporations a cost-sharing option to fully or
partially sponsor Internet access. The service provides several invoice
options detailing account activity and charges, including departmental
identification. Customers also receive value-added benefits such as
worldwide account creation, personalized e-mail addresses, business and
personal home page services and a comprehensive customer care package at
no additional charge.

"SPRYNET Group Connect eliminates the administrative and accounting
concerns for businesses connecting employees to the Internet -- whether
they're in the office, traveling or telecommuting." said Tim Oren, vice
president and general manager of CompuServe's Internet division. "By
allowing a parent organization to provide sponsored or non-sponsored
accounts, we've made it easy for businesses to provide the vast resources
of the Internet to their employees or partners."

According to Diane DiCioccio, vice president of marketing for IPRO, a
document imaging company and Group Connect customer, SPRYNET's flexibility
and breadth of coverage were particularly attractive. "After carefully
evaluating our options, we selected Group Connect because it was the only
program that allowed us to provide local access to all of our offices
throughout the country and receive one itemized bill," said DiCioccio.

SPRYNET Group Connect is available for customers with 25 or more accounts
at $19.95/month for 25 hours; $1.50 each additional hour or $9.95/month
for seven hours; $1.95 each additional hour. A registration fee applies to
customers with fewer than 25 accounts.

Customer Focused

From the time of the initial customer call, a dedicated customer service
representative works closely with the customer's administrator to develop
the Group Connect plan that best meets their company's needs. SPRYNET
Group Connect's customer care package also includes the availability of a
representative toll-free, eight hours a day, five days a week to assist
administrators with technical or billing questions. Customers' employees
can receive Internet support 24-hours a day via real-time chat channels,
forums and e-mail as well as through telephone support Monday through
Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST.

More Than Just Access

SPRYNET Group Connect customers with 25 to 250 users receive free home
pages with 5 mb of space for both the sponsoring company and each
employee. Customers with more than 250 Group Connect accounts receive a
unique, personalized e-mail domain -- such as bob@companyname.com. They
also receive free home pages with 15 mb of space for the company and 5 mb
for each employee as well as one year of SPRYNET WebHost service at no
additional charge.

To create home pages, employees can access the SPRYNET Web site where they
can download SPRYNET's Home Page Wizard and Publishing Wizard to develop
and publish a home page without any programming knowledge. SPRYNET also
offers other leading HTML authoring tools for download, such as
Microsoft's Internet Assistant and SoftQuad's HoTMetaL PRO 2.0. Any HTML
file can be published on SPRY Society by using the Publishing Wizard. A
wide variety of textures, colors and images are also available to make
pages more interesting.

Internet access through SPRYNET also includes unlimited use of the SPRYNET
Web Community -- a launching pad to the Internet that provides
information, technical support, research information and business tools.
From SPRYNET, customers can obtain everything from FedEx/UPS package
tracking and nationwide phone directories, online travel arrangements,
research services and currency converters. Upcoming SPRYNET features
include community services such as banking, custom profiles, multiple
e-mail accounts, on-line education forums, personalized news, and secure
transactions and billing.

Fast and Reliable Network

SPRYNET is distinguished by CompuServe's extensive worldwide Internet
network with more than 480 POPs and reliable local dial-up access in more
than 93 percent of the United States and 185 other countries. Local-access
ISDN service (without surcharge) is currently available in San Francisco;
Atlanta; Seattle; Boston; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Irvine, Calif.;
Kansas City, Mo.; Columbus, Ohio; Fairfax, Va.; London and Munich, and
will expand further within the next six months. Nationwide 1-800 ISDN
access is available with a $6 an hour surcharge.

For more information on SPRYNET Group Connect, customers can contact
CompuServe at 1-800-447-2956 or via e-mail at sales@sprynet.com.

SPRY, CompuServe's Internet Division, is a worldwide leader of Internet
access, services and software for the home and business markets. In
addition to SPRYNET, WebHost and SPRYNET Group Connect services, the
division's award-winning line of complete-solution software products
includes Internet Office, Internet In A Box, Internet In A Box for Kids,
Mosaic in A Box, SPRY Web Server, and SPRY SafetyWEB Server.

About CompuServe

CompuServe is an H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) company.

Founded in 1955, H&R Block is a diversified services company and the
world's leader in tax preparation and online information services. H&R
Block Tax Services handled almost one in every seven returns with the
Internal Revenue Service in 1995, serving 17.1 million taxpayers in more
than 9,500 offices worldwide. CompuServe operates the most comprehensive
online network in the world, providing services to more than 950 corporate
accounts and more than 4.7 million users in 185 countries.
 
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