FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 10 -- Capitol Advantage, the premier innovator and global leader of Internet-based political tools and services, today announced the launch of MegaVote, a Web-based politics service that delivers weekly e-mails notifying citizens how Members of Congress voted on

key legislative issues. The service will be available free of charge to scores of Internet users that visit the Web sites of hundreds of media organizations, Internet portals/search engines, associations, special interest groups and corporations.

"Millions of Americans are turning to the Internet this election year to gain information about elected officials and political candidates," said Bob Hansan, president and founder of Capitol Advantage. "This new service brings the cybercitizen immediate information about how their Members are voting on key issues, allowing them to make more informed voting decisions this November."

To sign up, visitors simply fill out a form located on a participating Web site, and they immediately start receiving weekly e-mail messages to their desktop throughout the 106th Session. The user-friendly service lists selected votes in the House and Senate and offers a brief explanation of each bill and whether it passed. The subscriber's representatives are listed with how they voted, yea or nay. E-mail links to representatives are included within each MegaVote message to enable users to respond directly to their elected officials.

"Corporations and organizations are using the MegaVote service to help maximize the effectiveness of their Web site as a political resource and drive traffic to their site," explains Hansan. "The service also helps promote an organization's legislative agenda by providing visitors with an easy way to contact their elected officials by e-mail."

Capitol Advantage is the global leader in the area of politics and the Internet and has partnered with the nation's leading media, portal, association and corporate organizations, including USATODAY.com, CNN, America Online, Yahoo!, AARP and AMA. Through the use of Capitol Advantage's tools and services, hundreds of organizations have promoted their agenda by empowering people to become informed and engaged in political dialogue. For more information, contact Capitol Advantage at 1-800-659-8708 or visit their Web site at http://www.capitoladvantage.com.

User Profiling Poses Serious Risk to Internet Consumer Privacy; Ad Serving Networks Caught with Their Hands in the 'Cookie' Jar

RESTON, Va., Dec. 20 -- Large Ad Serving Networks, like DoubleClick, are using "cookies" to profile Internet user's activity. This profiling is attracting a lot of attention with large consumer privacy groups and the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC recently formed a committee to address consumer privacy; meanwhile Web surfer's privacy is at serious risk.