Macromedia and Oracle to Combine Efforts to Establish Open Enterprise
Learning Standards and Learning Content Reuse

Providing choice for customers is key objective as companies plan to join
ranks to promote open learning standards.

Pensacola, FL, January 12, 1998 — Macromedia and Oracle Corp. announced
today that they are planning to collaborate on the Reusable Content Objects
(RCO) format for online learning and enterprise learning standards.
Additionally, Oracle plans to implement the Aviation Industry CBT Committee
(AICC) interoperability standard in its Oracle* Learning Architecture
(OLA). This announcement was made at a meeting of AICC, the committee that
has overseen the specification since 1993.

“The learning industry will benefit greatly from the adoption of these new
standards and the ability of Oracle and Macromedia products to work
together. We’re extremely pleased that Oracle and Macromedia have joined
forces to unite the industry around a core standard of interoperability.
Additionally, the RCO initiative is timely in solving a major industry
problem of content reuse,” said Jim White, vice president and general
manager of Macromedia’s Interactive Learning Division.

“Our customers have been telling us that they need an open, enterprise
platform that gives them options in selecting content and development tools
for the administration and delivery of online learning,” said Klaus
Andersen, vice president of Oracle Education(SM). “We are excited to
support the AICC specification and are eager to help move it forward
through our work with Macromedia.”

Reusable Content Objects Format
RCO promotes a granular, component-based content model that allows learners
to access custom learning tracks that meet their exact needs. It also
promotes development of learning content in small topics that can be used
in learning and performance support scenarios. RCO will allow curriculum
builders to easily locate and reuse relevant learning content. Reuse has
long eluded the content development industry. Oracle and Macromedia are
working to incorporate RCO into their learning products. Macromedia and
Oracle are actively involved in several industry standards efforts
including the AICC, Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL), IEEE,
the Learning Object Metadata Group, and XML to promote and implement
useable standards.

“Due to the lack of interoperability, a lot of developers are having great
difficulty because the different web-based training delivery tools don’t
work together,” said Ellen Julian, Manager, Training and Education
Research, IDC Research. “Interoperability is the key. An open standard that
allows organizations to mix content from different vendors is imperative
for this industry to satisfy the training needs of the future.”

AICC Specification
In 1993, the Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) developed a standard to
enable organizations to incorporate any learning content from any source
that support the AICC CMI001 standard. The AICC standard specifies how CBT
courses relay results back to a Computer-Managed Instruction (CMI) system
to enable interoperability. It also specifies the format for exchanging
curriculum files from one CMI system to another. This not only provides the
interoperability needed to mix and match CBT courses from different
vendors, but also the portability needed to allow “plug and play” between
CMI systems if desired. Macromedia’s Pathware CMI already complies with
this standard.

About Macromedia
Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) is a leading
provider of software products, each designed to help make creativity and
interactivity more possible in the new technology ecosystem. Macromedia’s
award-winning products for Windows, Macintosh and the Internet are
available to business, education, and government customers worldwide.
Additional information on Macromedia is available on the Internet at
(http://www.macromedia.com).

Oracle Education
Oracle Education provides superior technology training to customers and
partners worldwide, and offers a comprehensive selection of educational
products and services.

Oracle Corporation is the world’s largest supplier of software for
information management, and the world’s second largest software company.
With annual revenues of more than over $6 billion, the company offers its
database, tools and application products along with related consulting,
education and support services, in more than 145 countries around the
world.

For more information about Oracle, please call (415) 506-7000. Oracle’s
World Wide Web address is http://www.oracle.com/.

For more information, contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Macromedia Oracle Corp.
Benita Kenn Bob Berger
(650) 481-4837 (650) 341-4903
bkenn@macromedia.com bberger6@aol.com