NETSCAPE LIVEMEDIA FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNET MULTIMEDIA TO INTEGRATE PRECEPT
SOFTWARE'S RTP PROTOCOL

PALO ALTO, Calif. (May 6, 1996) -- Precept Software has announced that its
implementation of the Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) -- an
industry-standard software mechanism for carrying audio and video data
over IP networks -- will be incorporated in the Netscape LiveMedia
framework for Internet multimedia.

Netscape LiveMedia was introduced in January as a standards-based framework
for bringing real-time audio and video to the Netscape open software
platform. RTP is the underlying transport mechanism for carrying audio and
video over the Internet; it is an industry standard developed under the
direction of the Internet Engineering Task Force (RFC 1889/1890). RTP is
already in use on the Multimedia Backbone (MBONE) portion of the Internet,
which supports real-time multimedia.

Under the terms of a three-year agreement signed by the two companies,
Precept will provide Netscape Communications Corporation with versions of
its RTP implementation for three platforms: Microsoft Windows, UNIX and
Macintosh. The Windows version has been shipping since early April as part
of Precept's FlashWare multimedia networking software; the UNIX and Mac
versions are being developed specifically for Netscape as part of
Netscape's open, cross-platform strategy. Netscape LiveMedia with Precept
RTP technology is expected to ship in the third quarter of 1996.

Judy Estrin, Precept president and CEO, said, "Netscape's adoption of RTP
has played a significant role in the protocol's industry-wide acceptance.
This agreement will bring audio and video applications and content based
on Precept's RTP to the more than 20 million users of Netscape Navigator,
and to the consumer portion of the Internet that a startup could not hope
to address on its own."

"With the LiveMedia framework, Netscape is providing an open foundation on
which supporting technologies can innovate and interoperate. With
Precept's RTP technology, we are adding support for standards- based
streaming audio and video," said Bob Lisbonne, vice president of client
marketing at Netscape. "Precept has emerged as a leader in RTP technology
by developing a highly sophisticated cross-platform implementation."

RTP was developed by the IETF as an alternative to the widely used TCP
protocol in transporting real-time streaming audio and video data over
networks. TCP was designed to deliver conventional data reliably, but in
"bursts," with delivery delays that are unacceptable in real-time
applications such as audio and video, where data must be received in
continuous "streams." RTP works alongside TCP to transport streaming data
across networks and synchronize multiple streams (e.g., so that words and
pictures go together). An adjunct protocol, the Real-Time Transport
Control Protocol (RTCP), which monitors network conditions and reception
quality, is also included in the Precept RTP implementation being provided
to Netscape.

Based on open Internet standards and documented protocols and interfaces,
Netscape LiveMedia is a framework for multimedia communications that
provides a common platform from which interoperable cross-platform
solutions can evolve. Netscape intends to incorporate the Netscape
LiveMedia framework in future versions of Netscape clients, servers and
development tools so that users will have easier access to new Internet
applications such as audio and video on-demand, real-time
videoconferencing and Internet telephony.

Precept Software, Inc., was formed in March 1995 to develop and market
standards-based networking software that addresses the emerging demand for
local- and wide-area networking of real-time multimedia information.
Precept products, including network "middleware" and applications for
Windows PCs, work over both the global Internet and private IP networks
and address such applications as video distribution, training, video/audio
conferencing, interactive cable TV, information kiosks and industrial
control. The privately held company has raised $6.4 million in venture
financing.
 
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