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ERIC FREEMAN NAMED VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNOLOGY, WALT DISNEY INTERNET GROUP

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.

The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) announced the appointment of Eric Freeman as vice president, technology, with responsibility for the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online. Freeman will lead the charge in driving technology development of the Web properties and new media activities for The Walt Disney Company's theme parks and resort hotel properties, including information Web sites, e-commerce and online attractions.

Freeman returns to the Walt Disney Internet Group after a two-year stint with O'Reilly Media Inc., where he co-directed and co-authored the publishing firm's "Head First" series of technical reference books, including the award-winning Head First Design Patterns and the bestselling Head First HTML.

"We're thrilled to welcome Eric back to our team," said Douglas Parish, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Walt Disney Internet Group. "There are few people with his level of credentials in theoretical and practical technology, and his forward-thinking abilities will be a valuable asset in helping us stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly growing and changing category."

Freeman originally landed at the Walt Disney Internet Group in 2000, where he initially acted as a director in the company's portal division. He later served as director of engineering, driving development in the areas of broadband, wireless, media content distribution, wireless technology and content syndication. This includes co-inventing WDIG Motion, a proprietary, patent-pending Internet technology allowing broadband users to view high-quality video, embedded in standard Web pages, without impacting narrowband users' experiences.

Freeman's background also features a number of impressive accomplishments, such as recognition by MIT's Technology Review as one of the top 100 young innovators and a Jolt Award for product excellent from Software Development Magazine. He also co-founded Mirror Worlds Technologies Inc., along with industry luminary David Gelernter, in 1996. The company produced a commercialized version of Freeman's Ph. D. work, one of the first research systems to suggest an alternative for the desktop metaphor. Freeman also has held positions at Yale University's Department of Computer Science and NASA's Goddard Space Flight center.

Freeman has a Doctorate, Master of Philosophy and Master's in Computer Science from Yale University, a Master's in Computer Science from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky.

About Walt Disney Internet Group

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) provides strategic leadership and operational management for The Walt Disney Company's (NYSE:DIS) Internet properties, including category leaders Disney.com, ESPN.com and ABCNEWS.com. A market leader in developing and distributing entertainment and informational content to new platforms, WDIG is committed to creating and delivering products for broadband distribution including: ABC News On Demand, a subscription video news service that offers the Internet's first 24-hour, live, Internet-only news channel and top ABC News programs for on demand viewing; Disney Connection; and WDIG Motion, a proprietary video technology for broadband users. Through relationships with some of the world's largest wireless carriers, WDIG distributes content and services to wireless users under the Disney brand.

Additionally, WDIG has led the way in developing interactive content for televised programming through its Enhanced TV service. Steve Wadsworth is president of WDIG, which is headquartered in North Hollywood and has operations in Budapest, London, Munich, New York, Orlando, Fla., Seattle and Tokyo.

(source: Disney Internet Group)
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