ActiveState Adds Marketing and Financing Expertise to its Board
New Chair and Board Members To Help With Latest Stage of Growth  

VANCOUVER, BC - May 23, 2003 - ActiveState Corp., the leader in
anti-spam software for enterprises and programming tools for open source
developers, today announces the appointment of a new chair and several
new board members.  David Raffa, partner of Catalyst Corporate Finance
Lawyers, assumes the position of board chair.  Also joining the board
are Mark Jacobsen, executive vice president, business development,
O'Reilly & Associates; and Matt Dion, senior product manager, Crystal
Decisions.

"I've been following ActiveState from its early stages as an open source
development company and the growth the company has achieved has been
phenomenal, particularly in the past year in a challenging economic
climate.  This success is a testament to ActiveState's talented staff
and successful evolution to providing enterprise solutions," said David
Raffa, partner, Catalyst Corporate Finance Lawyers.  "My career has been
based on aiding tech companies corporately grow their business, and I
look forward to helping them reach critical mass." 

"David Raffa's expertise in corporate finance and proven track record in
building tech companies is a great rounding out of our board," said
Steve Munford, ActiveState president and COO.  "To date, we've been
fortunate to have an active board that's provided excellent guidance
over the past few years.  I fully expect that the new board members will
continue this practice and will be instrumental in helping guide the
company to the next level."

David Raffa is a partner with Catalyst Corporate Finance Lawyers and has
over 18 years experience in advising technology companies. Catalyst is a
boutique corporate finance law firm, which specializes in helping build
and grow technology companies.  David practices in the areas of
corporate finance law and has special expertise in matters of corporate
governance.  He has helped lead numerous financings, mergers and
acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.  David is active in the local
technology community serving as chairman of the BCTIA Capital &
Investment Committee, chairman of the Science World Equity Committee and
as a technology company advisor to both the BCSC and TSX-V.   

Mark Jacobsen oversees O'Reilly's conferences, electronic reference
library joint venture and corporate sales initiatives.  He also manages
the company's strategic investments and partnerships, and sits on the
company's board of directors.  Mark was one of the key founders of
several O'Reilly spinouts including LikeMinds, which was acquired by
Andromedia and then Macromedia, and CollabNet.  Prior to joining
O'Reilly, Mark was the director of business affairs for Colossal
Pictures, a partner in the law firm of Mandel, Buder and Jacobsen (now
MBVLaw LLC), and an associate at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.  He
clerked for a Ninth Circuit appellate judge after he graduated from
Georgetown University Law Center.  

Matt Dion is responsible for Crystal Decisions' Microsoft projects and
has been with them in a number of capacities for almost a decade.  His
breadth of experience at Crystal Decisions encompasses sales,
communications, and business development.  These positions included:
vice president of North American corporate sales, public relations
manager, and director of strategic communications and strategic
initiatives.  Matt holds a joint major in Business Administration and
Psychology from Simon Fraser University.  Matt has been an ActiveState
investor since 2000 and is actively involved with the BC Technology
Social Venture Partners.

Other members of ActiveState's board include Dick Hardt, ActiveState
founder and CTO, and Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat.  Leaving
ActiveState's board are: Tim O'Reilly, president of O'Reilly & Assoc.;
Haig Ferris, president of Fractal Capital; and Nick Bedford.  Further
information on the company's board members is available at:
http://www.ActiveState.com/Board

About ActiveState Corp.
ActiveState is the leading provider of software solutions that increase
developer productivity and organizational efficiency through the
innovative use of open source technology.  The company's PureMessage
product empowers organizations to take control of their email
communications to protect against spam and viruses, and to enforce email
policy.  Additional information on ActiveState's industrial strength
anti-spam software for enterprises and programming tools for open source
language developers is available at: http://www.ActiveState.com.

Media & Analyst Inquiries:
Lori Pike, Director Corporate Communications
LoriP@[...].com
604.808.6655

ActiveState and PureMessage are trademarks of ActiveState Corp.  All
other company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright ActiveState Corporation 2003.
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