Yahoo may soon regain the title of worlds largest web directory as the Open Directory Project slips into chaos.


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - April 1, 2001 - Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: AOL), today announced the departure of Open Directory Project engineer Keith Peters. Peters will be taking a forced sabbatical of undetermined length. The sabbatical is part of Netscape's ongoing commitment to the mental and physical health of all of its employees.

Lisa Bekker, Senior Human Resources Coordinator for Netscape states, "Netscape has a long standing policy to intervene in situations where employees, who are working too hard for their own good, need a break. Keith is suffering from various stress related symptoms, and we feel he's earned a breather. Granted work on the Open Directory may suffer, but in the long term we feel it's for the best. Towards the end some of Keith's Perl coding was getting a little unconventional, like when he insisted on programming in anagrams."

Bekker continues, "Forced sabbaticals are not a new occurrence at Netscape. For instance, Marc Andreessen was forced to take a temporary leave of absence when it became clear he was taking his title of CTO a little too seriously."

Engineering Director and Open Directory Project founder, Rich Skrenta, had this to say about the departure of one of his key employees: "Keith is a great programmer, who just let the daily grind of new features and bugs get to him. He was retreating deeper and deeper into a fantasy world. At first we thought it was just his way of getting psyched up, by pretending to be Robozilla. Then he showed up to work wearing nothing but green body paint. We interpreted that as a cry for help. Everyone here at the Open Directory Project hopes that Keith gets the help he needs and are looking forward to his return to work."

About Keith Peters

Keith Peters, a native of New York, graduated from the prestigious California Institute of Technology in 2000. Peters joined the Open Directory Project team at Netscape that same year. Keith quickly became an integral part of the ODP and was soon in charge of ODP engineering development. Rumors of an out of control inflatable llama addiction are mostly unfounded. Peters will be spending his sabbatical at the Stanford Bipolar Disorders Clinic.

About Netscape

Netscape Communications is a leading provider of tools and services wherever people go on the Internet. Netscape pioneered the development of world-class Web browsers, including Netscape 6, and offers a full range of convenient Web applications. Netscape.com is one of the most visited sites on the Internet with more than 37 million registered users. Netscape Netbusiness ranks among the fastest-growing Internet destinations for small business owners.A subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Netscape Company Information

Netscape is based in Mountain View, California. Additional information on Netscape is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, by sending email to info@netscape.com, or by calling 650-254-1900. Netscape and Netscape logo are registered trademarks of Netscape Communication Corporation in the United States and other Countries.

AOL, America Online, Inc., and the Triangle Logo are registered service marks of America Online, Inc. American Airlines and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc

This press release is in no way true. This isn't even a real press release. The ODP staff appologizes to everyone about everything. This is a bad, bad joke and is not funny in any way. If you laughed, shame on you and shame on us.