MILPITAS, Calif., Oct. 1, 2001 – Quantum Corporation (NYSE:DSS), a leading provider of data protection and network storage, today said that a lawsuit filed by Imation Corporation (NYSE:IMN) alleging that Quantum violated U.S. antitrust laws is "completely without merit."  Quantum called Imation's lawsuit a transparent effort to distract customers from Imation's failure to qualify its tape media product for use with DLTtape drives.  Quantum strongly advised customers to use only tape media products that have met its rigorous qualification and certification standards, emphasizing that it could give no assurances regarding potential problems attributable to unqualified tape media and that use of unqualified tape media could, under certain circumstances, void the DLTtape drive warranty.   "We have worked closely with Imation for more than two years, in good faith and at substantial expense, to assist it in qualifying to manufacture a DLTtape-based media product," said Michael Brown, chairman and CEO of Quantum.  "After signing a license agreement, gaining access to our intellectual property, and failing to qualify, Imation has apparently abandoned its qualification efforts, has announced its intention to sell unqualified tape media, and has filed suit against us.   "Imation's lawsuit is completely without merit, and the very idea of a tape media cartel is simply preposterous.  There are more than ten competing brands of DLTtape media (such as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sony, and TDK) pricing independently in the marketplace.   "As a strong believer in fair competition, we have already licensed and qualified FujiFilm and Maxell to manufacture DLTtape media products that compete with our own, and we are currently working with another major media manufacturer to do the same.  While qualifying is rigorous and time-consuming, the widespread availability today of DLTtape media from multiple vendors clearly indicates that Quantum's long-standing qualification and certification process is fair and open.  This process also ensures that customers have a choice among competing vendors offering qualified DLTtape-based media products that meet the highest standards of reliability, compatibility and performance for protecting enterprise-class data."   "Quantum's DLTtape technology is based on more than a decade of experience meeting the data protection needs of thousands of enterprise customers, which is why it is the de facto standard for backup, archiving and disaster recovery today," said Barbara Nelson, president of Quantum's DLTtape Group.  "Customers know to look for tape media products with the DLTtape logo as their best assurance of data integrity and compatibility for mission-critical applications.  The DLTtape logo signifies that a tape media product has met Quantum's rigorous qualification and certification standards, which we believe go well beyond any individual vendor's self certification process.  Quantum's qualification and certification standards ensure compatibility with the 70 million DLTtape media cartridges in the installed base as well as the reliability of DLTtape drives and media as a system."   Quantum is advising its customers that it may modify its warranty program to limit or eliminate warranty protection for DLTtape drives using unqualified tape media products if experience with those products justifies it.