ARLINGTON, Va., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- New Media Strategies, (NMS), a Delaware corporation and the pioneer of online brand promotion and protection, today announced that it will use the District of Columbia court system to continue its pursuit of its claim that Pulpfree, Inc., doing business as BuzzMetrics ("BuzzMetrics"), misappropriated trade secrets that NMS disclosed in discussions concerning NMS' possible acquisition of BuzzMetrics. NMS had initially pursued its claims in the Virginia courts, but the Honorable Benjamin N.A. Kendrick ruled that the District of Columbia, not Virginia, has jurisdiction to decide these issues.

"BuzzMetrics' claims that NMS' case was decided on its merits are patently false," according to NMS' attorney, Jack L. Wuerker. "The judge made it abundantly clear that his decision was limited to jurisdiction, was not on the merits and hence without prejudice, and that the case could be pursued in the District of Columbia courts."

"In fact, Mr. Carson was present in the courtroom to hear the judge explicitly state that his decision was not a ruling on the merits, and that we could pursue our claims against all defendants in the District of Columbia. Everyone can make an independent decision as to what motivated Mr. Carson to make the patently false claims to the contrary included in BuzzMetrics' press release. We intend to promptly take advantage of the judge's invitation for us to continue our case in the District of Columbia and to pursue it to a favorable decision that is on its merits."

This case arises out of events which occurred in the middle of 2000, a time when NMS was headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Pulpfree was in the personal portal business. Matthew Slaughter, then CEO of Pulpfree, approached NMS to see if NMS would buy Pulpfree, and during the ensuing discussions each company became familiar with trade secrets of the other. A month later, Pulpfree told NMS it had received additional funding to develop its personal portal technology, but NMS discovered in early 2003 that Pulpfree had, instead, abandoned its prior business plan, moved to New York City, changed its name to BuzzMetrics and adopted an entirely new business plan which appears, on its face, to be substantially identical to the online intelligence plan disclosed to Pulpfree in confidence during the acquisition discussions.

The Virginia case was filed against Pulpfree, Inc.; Jonathan Carson (now president and chief executive officer of Pulpfree and previously a senior officer), Matthew Slaughter (now a company director and at the time of the events at issue its CEO) and Braxton Robbason (at all times the company's chief technology officer). The District of Columbia case will proceed against the same defendants.

About New Media Strategies

New Media Strategies pioneered the online brand promotion and protection industry. NMS was recently featured in Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 50 Great Places to work in Washington, D.C., and listed as one of the Inc 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2004. To learn more about New Media Strategies visit http://www.newmediastrategies.net/.

CONTACT: Sarah Nicholson, +1-202-298-7600 ext. 201, or Sarah@dbcpr.com,
for New Media Strategies

Web site: http://www.newmediastrategies.net/