Just as your pulse is checked during a routine physical, free cash flow is used as an indicator of a company's health. It equals the cash brought in from operations minus the money needed to pay the bills. Think about leftover money in your checking account after you pay this month's bills.

Investors and analysts see this leftover money as a gauge of a company's ability to perform. It is available for transactions such as handing out dividends and working on new products.

Some argue free cash flow is wrongly overshadowed by the emphasis often placed on earnings. Earnings numbers can be manipulated and don't always tell the whole story -- and earnings don't mean much if there's nothing left over after a company pays its expenses. Even if you bring in a six-figure salary, but no money left after paying the bills, are you in great financial shape?

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out free cash flow. To calculate the number, subtract the company's expenditures and dividends from its operating cash flow.

If the free cash flow is written in red ink, it doesn't necessarily signal curtains. This is common for young companies looking to grow. It also could be a result of heavy investments, which in the long run could be worth a standing ovation.

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Digital River to Participate at the 18th Annual Software Industry Conference

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MINNEAPOLIS, Jul 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, announced that the company will exhibit, sponsor and speak at the Software Industry Conference (SIC). The conference is being held July 17-19, 2008, at the Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel in Boston, Mass.

Digital River, a premier sponsor at SIC, plans to have an extensive presence at the conference. In addition to sponsoring a reception, the company will host an exhibit booth in salon 5 and a hospitality suite in room A. Digital River also will have a number of e-commerce experts speaking on a variety of topics during educational workshops throughout the conference. Workshop topics include blogging, and email and newsletter marketing as well as file downloading services and revenue-generating strategies.

At SIC, Digital River will introduce new features for its e-commerce solution, which are designed to help software publishers build their online sales and businesses. These features include more sophisticated options for creating customizable CD labels, additional global currency offerings, more in-depth reporting, an affiliate store builder and an enhanced Digital River developer resource site. Located at www.developer-resource.com, the developer resource site provides software publishers a variety of branding, marketing and website merchandising suggestions.

The Software Industry Conference is a three-day event featuring informative and educational breakout sessions focusing on the software industry. For more information about SIC, please visit www.sic.org.

About Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds and manages online businesses for software publishers, consumer technology manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company's comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud prevention, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.

Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in major U.S. cities as well as Cologne, Germany; London, England; Shannon, Ireland; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Stockholm, Sweden; Taipei, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and Shanghai, China. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com or call 952-253-1234.

Digital River is a registered trademark of Digital River, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks, registrations or copyrights of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc. Media Contact: Heather Morris, 952-253-8828 Public Relations Specialist publicrelations@digitalriver.com
   or Investor Relations Contact: Ed Merritt, 952-540-3362 Group Vice President, Investor Relations investorrelations@digitalriver.com