iesy Repository GmbH - Irish Stock Exchange

Employees
The following table sets forth the number of ish’s employees actively engaged in business as of December 31, 2002,
2003, and 2004:
188
As of December 31,
2002 2003 2004
Sales and marketing 192 86 80
Network and technology 654 398 395
Customer operations 340 282 289
Finance and administrative 173 130 127
ish KS 27 27 23
Total number of employees 1,386 923 914
In 2002 and 2003, ish restructured certain aspects of its workforce and reduced its workforce from approximately 2,500
to approximately 900 employees. ish’s headcount has been stable since the second half of 2003 and no further significant
reductions are planned.
Approximately 30.0% of ish’s employees are former DTAG employees and have the right to return to DTAG, a right
they were given with DTAG’s divestiture of its cable television business. For 10.0% of ish’s employees, included in the
above percentage of 30.0%, the right to return to DTAG terminates at the end of 2005, but under certain circumstances and
subject to negotiations the return right may be extended to June 2007 or to a later date. 20.0% of ish’s employees, included in
the above percentage of 30.0%, have civil servant status. These employees have a permanent right to return to DTAG.
ish has negotiated various collective bargaining agreements directly with one of its labor unions. These collective
bargaining agreements cover the general labor conditions of ish’s employees (other than executives), such as working hours,
holidays, termination, redundancy protection and general payment schemes for wages. ish intends to negotiate new and
renegotiate existing collective bargaining agreements in 2005 to simplify structures and to increase workforce flexibility as
ish introduces new products and services. During 2004 and 2005, ish renegotiated a significant number of its works council
agreements. See “Risk Factors—Risk Related to Our Business—Strikes or other industrial actions as well as the negotiation
of a new collective bargaining agreement could disrupt our operations or make it more costly to operate our facilities” and
“Business—Business of ish—Employees.”
Environmental Matters
ish is subject to a variety of laws and regulations relating to land use and environmental protection. While ish could
incur costs, such as clean-up costs, fines and third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of
violations of or liabilities under environmental laws and regulations, ish has stated that it believes that it is in substantial
compliance with applicable requirements of such laws and regulations.
Legal Proceedings
ish is involved in a number of legal proceedings that have arisen in the ordinary course of its business. Other than as
discussed below, ish does not expect the legal proceedings in which ish is involved or with which it has been threatened to
have a material adverse effect on its business or consolidated financial position. The outcome of legal proceedings, however,
can be extremely difficult to predict with certainty, and no assurances can be offered in this regard.
On December 11, 2003, ish received a letter from ARGE Kabel in relation to royalties for cable transmission of
copyright protected works. ARGE Kabel claims that it is entitled to royalty payments from ish in an amount of 1.28% (based
on its applicable tariff) of ish’s subscription revenues and has threatened to sue ish. The claim is limited to 40% of the
amount that VG Media receives for their transmission rights from the private broadcasters. To date, ARGE Kabel has not
filed a lawsuit against ish.
ish has a dispute with Messe Frankfurt relating to the use of its trademark “ish.” Messe Frankfurt’s claims have been
rejected in a decision of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and Messe Frankfurt has appealed this decision.
ish has stated that it believes that Messe Frankfurt’s claims have no merit and ish intends to vigorously defend the use of its
name. In addition, ish has filed an application to the German Patent and Trademark Office for the partial cancellation of the
trademark “ish” held by Messe Frankfurt. The Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market has postponed the
proceedings until the end of the proceeding at the Deutsches Patent-und Markenamt.