aip.txt

    LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 1998--

               AIP Board Member Appointed As Liaison to
                       WSP www.association.org

    The Association of Internet Professionals (AIP), the largest
global association of Internet Professionals, today announced its
endorsement of the Web Standards Project (WSP).
    WSP (http://www.webstandards.org) is a coalition of Web builders
and users committed to convincing the developers of Web browsers, such
as Netscape and Microsoft, to adopt and promote industry standards.
    WSP co-founder Glenn Davis of Project Cool initiated the project
to remedy the fact that Web builders spend at least 25% of their time
dealing with differences between how Netscape's Navigator and
Communicator browsers and Microsoft's Internet Explorer display Web
content. (Netscape and Microsoft control more than 90% of the total
browsers market.) The WSP is devoted to promoting standards that will
enable Web developers to eliminate these differences and create
content that will work with all browsers.
    With more than 8,000 members internationally, AIP is the leading
professional association for Internet Professionals. Founded in 1994,
AIP is the largest and fastest growing professional association in the
industry, dedicated to unifying, supporting and representing Internet
professionals worldwide.
    In endorsing the work of WSP, the AIP Board of Directors
appointed its Secretary and Vice Chair of Technology, Dan Shafer of
CNET Builder.com, as its liaison to WSP. Shafer also serves on the
14-member WSP steering committee and has long been an advocate of the
adoption of industry standards to make life easier for both Web
designers and surfers.
    "AIP firmly believes that it is imperative for standards adopted
by organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to be
incorporated completely and correctly into browsers as swiftly as
possible," Shafer said. "Without standards, neither users nor
developers can rely on the universality of access to the content of
the Web."
    Davis agreed. "AIP joins the WSP as an important global
association of Web developers and designers with no particular axe to
grind other than the overwhelming sense that standards are essential
to the continued growth and use of the Web."
    WSP's intent is to convince Netscape, Microsoft, and other
browser manufacturers, to adopt a basic set of standards consisting of
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) 4.0, Extensible Markup Language (XML)
1.0, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS-1 and CSS-2), and the core HTML and
XML Document Object Model (DOM) specifications of the W3C. It also
includes ECMAScript (the official name for the browser scripting
language called JavaScript by Netscape and JScript by Microsoft).
Finally, it wants these browser manufacturers to agree to support
Extensible Style Sheets (XSL) as soon as that specification is
approved by the W3C.

About the Association of Internet Professionals

    The Association of Internet Professionals (AIP) is the premier
professional association for Internet professionals worldwide. AIP,
founded in 1994, is the largest and fastest growing professional
association in the industry. In order to unify, support and represent
the global community of Internet professionals, AIP provides the
benefits and programs that allow both its individual and corporate
members to succeed in today's Internet/Intranet/Extranet marketplace.
The organization also serves as the voice of Internet professionals
and industry corporations before the public, press, and within the
online community on issues shaping the future of the Internet. AIP's
web site can be found at www.association.org.


    CONTACT: Association of Internet Professionals
             Andrew Q. Kraft, Executive Director
             732/744-1374
             akraft@association.org



Copyright 1998, Business Wire