News release

HP Canada and Dittybase to Rock the Production Music Industry

B2B e-Commerce Start-up to be Funded by HP Canada Through the HP Garage Program

Mississauga, Ont., Canada, Nov. 6, 2000

Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd. today announced an alliance with Dittybase, Inc., of Victoria, British Columbia, through HP's Garage Program. Under the program, Dittybase has been approved for up to (Cdn) $1.5 million in financing to be used for the acquisition of HP products and services to facilitate its B2B Internet start-up aimed at servicing the production music industry.

The HP Garage Program, a comprehensive support program for Internet start-ups, helps fast-moving ASPs, dot.coms and trading communities speed time to market, preserve capital, and prepare for hypergrowth.

HP Canada technology consultants plan to work with Dittybase to define and implement the IT infrastructure that best supports Dittybase's vision for revolutionizing the music licensing industry. As part of that vision, HP UNIX® servers and the new HP Surestore E Disk Array XP512 will be employed to handle all processes involved in acquiring, distributing, licensing, and usage reporting of digitized production music.

"HP is proud to be working with Dittybase to help ensure its success," said Paul Tsaparis, president and chief executive officer, HP Canada. "Through the HP Garage Program we're enabling Dittybase through its critical start-up period by delaying capital expenditure and allowing the use of working capital for operational expenses. And, with our most highly available and scaleable UNIX solutions, best-of-breed storage solutions and technology partners, Dittybase will be founded on the most solid and robust IT infrastructure available. This will ensure an e-commerce solution that's 'always up, always available', any time, anywhere."

Dittybase, an e-commerce Internet start-up, is poised to revolutionize the music industry by providing unparalleled, comprehensive packages of products and services to the production music and digital audio management markets. With a suite of the world's leading production music libraries and proprietary software services, Dittybase will serve the entertainment, advertising, and corporate industries while managing licensing rights and streamlining operations for all participants -- from record labels, music libraries, music distributors, to rights reporting organizations.

"This is a very exciting time for Dittybase as we move toward our goal of becoming the creative access point for the traditional film, broadcast, and interactive Webcast industries. This agreement allows us to take a rapid step toward realizing this goal," said Tim Daniels, president of Dittybase, Inc. "We feel this alliance with HP represents a huge vote of confidence in our business model by one of the world's premier technology companies."

Both Dittybase, Inc. and HP Canada consider this agreement as the first step in a broader and promising collaboration that both parties expect will, ultimately, offer a complete spectrum of e-commerce digital multimedia solutions.

About Dittybase, Inc.

Dittybase, Inc., based in Victoria, British Columbia, provides an unparalleled and comprehensive package of software and online services that enables creative enterprises to acquire and manage digitized production music. Information on Dittybase can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.dittybase.com/.

About HP Canada

Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd. has more than 1,300 employees at 21 locations across Canada. Its revenue in fiscal 1999 was (Cdn) $1.9 billion. Information about HP Canada can be found on the World Wide Web at http://welcome.hp.com/country/ca/eng/welcome.htm or http://welcome.hp.com/country/ca/fre/welcome.htm.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP has 86,000 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group.