CollegeNET, Inc. today filed suit in the United States District Court in Portland, Oregon, against Embark.com and Christopher Munoz, a member of Embark.com's "board of advisors." The suit alleges several claims centering around marketplace misconduct by Embark.com and Munoz. The case accuses Munoz and Embark.com of issuing false and defamatory statements about CollegeNET and it charges Embark.com with competing unfairly by publishing false and misleading statistics and information about itself and its competitors, including CollegeNET.

According to the federal complaint, CollegeNET generated a report using its PCDataOnline subscription which compared pageviews of dot-com college admissions portals for the month of April, 2000. The portion of the report detailing activity for Embark.com showed pageviews at a fraction of the level claimed by Embark.com's salesforce. By comparison, pageviews for CollegeNET's website, http://www.collegenet.com, were approximately two times those of Embark.com. CollegeNET published the report on the web.

The complaint cites a false statement by Munoz accusing CollegeNET of falsifying the report from PCDataOnline. The complaint further cites Embark's republication of Munoz' statement in a subsequent communication to M.I.T. According to the complaint, Embark's communication obscured Munoz' authorship. Embark's statement to M.I.T. urged M.I.T. not to do business with CollegeNET, expressing that other "top tier" schools were concerned about the PCDataOnline report. According to the complaint, Munoz and Embark did not revoke their statements even after receiving confirmation of the accuracy of the report from PCDataOnline.

The federal complaint also challenges under the Lanham Act public statements made by Embark touting its own success in the marketplace. According to the complaint, Embark.com has made a regular practice of substantially overstating its market share, the number of active users of its services, the frequency and intensity of traffic on its website, and its account list.

The complaint charges that Embark.com has leveraged its marketplace falsehoods and overstatements to obtain accounts and outside investment dollars. The complaint makes separate claims for defamation, unfair trade practices, unfair competition, and Lanham Act violations. CollegeNET seeks an injunction, monetary damages "in an amount in excess of $10 million," plus punitive damages of $30 million. CollegeNET is represented by David B. Markowitz and Jeffrey M. Edelson of Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf, P.C. in Portland, Oregon.

According to Paul Casey, director of corporate communications at CollegeNET, "Industry leaders of Internet-based businesses must take the lead to challenge abuses by others. The higher education marketplace in particular must be able to rely on the honesty and integrity of its vendors. Embark is spoiling that for those of us who are committed to playing by the rules. The false statements made by Embark.com and Mr. Munoz damage the business and standing of CollegeNET and other honest competitors. We have chosen litigation only after repeated mistruths and abuses from Embark and only after we have exhausted all other avenues."

Education and Training is the second largest segment of the U.S. economy, only slightly behind healthcare. Yet, according to the Gartner Group, it is served by only a fraction of the number of vendors serving the healthcare business. According to Casey: "We believe that college tuition costs have skyrocketed over the past several decades in part due to higher education's historic reluctance to turn to products in private industry to improve administrative efficiency. Our company has earned trust by helping colleges and universities bring down their costs and improve their services. When another vendor acts irresponsibly, progress is jeopardized."

About CollegeNET, Inc:
CollegeNET, Inc. (corp.collegenet.com) is a leading provider of Internet forms commerce service to the education and non-profit sector. CollegeNET served forms create workflow savings for end-users and institutions by eliminating the costs, delays, and mistakes associated with paper-based forms processing. Forms transparently served by CollegeNET include admissions applications, financial aid applications, alumni registration, housing, contribution, and financial aid forms. CollegeNET, Inc. serves over 500 client institutions including Virginia Tech, M.I.T., Georgia Tech, University of Washington, and University of Nebraska. The Company is headquartered at One SW Columbia, Suite 100, Portland, Oregon, 97258.

Inquiries should be made to:
Paul Casey, CollegeNET's Director of Corporate Communications, telephone: (503)973-5200; facsimile: (503) 973-5252; email: paul@collegenet.com ; or Jeffrey M. Edelson, Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf, P.C., telephone (503)295-3085; facsimile: (503)323-9105; email: Jeff@MHGMlaw.com.