Mozilla Japan Created; Mozilla Affiliate in Japan Kicks Off

August 18, 2004 (the Internet)  - The Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Japan today announced the launch of the Mozilla-Japan.org web site and the creation of Mozilla Japan, a non-profit organization that will promote, develop and help deploy Mozilla products in Japan.

• The organization will work on the internationalization and localization of Mozilla products and will be responsible for official Japanese localized versions of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird and the Mozilla 1.7 Internet suite.  



• Mozilla Japan will contribute to the development of Mozilla technologies.
• Local experts will assist in the deployment of Mozilla products and provide support to both end users and enterprises.
• Mozilla Japan will cultivate and assist Mozilla business partners and educate local users about Mozilla products.

In addition to end user programs, Mozilla Japan will offer a wide range of services aimed at bolstering enterprise adoption of Mozilla products in Japan. These services include product deployment assistance, migration support and technical assistance and advice on making web sites standards-compliant.

"We are delighted to support the creation of Mozilla Japan," said Mitchell Baker, President of the Mozilla Foundation. "Japan has a large concentration of Mozilla users, and Mozilla Japan will play a vital role in ensuring that our Japanese users have access to the highest quality products and to the full range of services needed for broad end-user and enterprise adoption.  We are especially thankful for the leadership and resources that have been provided by Ten Art-ni, without which this endeavor would not have been possible."

The board of directors of Mozilla Japan is chaired by Hideo Aiso (President of the prestigious Tokyo University of Technology), and includes Professor Hideyuki Tokuda (of Keio University), Nobuo Kita (CEO of Ten Art-ni Corporation), Satoko Takita (formerly of AOL/Netscape Japan), and Motohiro Egota (of Ten Art-ni).  Ten Art-ni, a publicly traded company, is the leading provider of open source solutions in Japan.

The Mozilla-japan.org web site reflects the strong local community of Mozilla developers who contribute their expertise to the localization of Firefox, Thunderbird and the Mozilla 1.7 Internet suite.  The web site is available at http://www.mozilla-japan.org.

Mozilla Japan is the Mozilla Foundation's second international affiliate. Mozilla Europe, www.mozilla-europe.org, which coordinates Mozilla development and promotional activities in Europe, was created last February.

ABOUT THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION

Established in July 2003 with start-up support from America Online's Netscape division, the Mozilla Foundation exists to provide organizational, legal, and financial support for the Mozilla open source software project. The Foundation is based in Mountain View, California and is the heir to the great legacy and tradition of the Internet's first widely used browser, Netscape.

Mozilla Firefox, the Mozilla Foundation's next generation web browser, and Mozilla Thunderbird, the foundation's new email application, along with the Mozilla 1.7 Internet suite, are riding a wave of industry and end-user support. Get Firefox and experience for yourself what that the buzz is all about.

SUPPORTING MOZILLA

Individuals and companies from around the world support the Mozilla Foundation through voluntary contributions of time, money and resources. To discover how you or your company can join in and help support Mozilla, please send mail to donations@mozilla.org.

PRESS CONTACTS:

• Yumiko Hinata, +81-3-3253-7700
• press@mozilla-japan.org

• Steve Kerns, 415-321-1891



• Colin Crook, 415-321-1887
• press@mozilla.org

For the latest Mozilla-related news and commentary, support and discussion, please visit MozillaZine, http://www.mozillazine.org, the largest independent Mozilla news and support site on the web.