Indianapolis, Indiana - January 25, 2001…Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) issued the following statement today in response to Federal Judge David Hamilton's ruling in SPG's suit against mySimon, Inc., a subsidiary of CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET).

"Yesterday's rulings issued by Judge Hamilton in Indianapolis upheld jury findings that mySimon intentionally adopted a name confusingly similar to the Company's trademark ‘Simon' name. Those findings led the Court to issue a permanent injunction ordering mySimon to cease the use of its name, its ‘Simon' character and its mySimon.com website.

"Our primary objective in bringing this litigation against mySimon was to stop their ongoing, willful infringement of the Simon trademark and to eliminate the resulting confusion in the marketplace caused by their use of our name. We are very pleased that the jury's original finding of intentional infringement was upheld and that the Court has issued an injunction which will ultimately protect the Company's use of the ‘Simon' name without infringement by one of its competitors.

"We are dismayed, however, that the Court has decided to reduce the original $26.8 million damage award to a nominal sum even though the jury concluded, after hearing extensive arguments and carefully considering all the evidence, that mySimon engaged in willful infringement over a several year period and reaped substantial profits from its $700.0 million acquisition by CNET. The Court's decision is equally troubling in light of the fact that CNET and mySimon continue to spend many millions of dollars promoting the mySimon name, character and website, notwithstanding the favorable jury verdict, resulting in additional consumer confusion. We believe the jury was correct in concluding that mySimon's intentional conduct should have material financial consequences. We intend to vigorously pursue an appeal of those portions of the judgment relating to damages."