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                                                                   EXHIBIT 99.1

DBT Online To Acquire KnowX.com & Informed from Thomson

Will Enter Consumer Internet Market, Expand Lending and Leasing Business, and
Leverage Existing Database

BOCA RATON, FL, Friday, August 20, 1999 - DBT Online, Inc. (NYSE: DBT)
announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the online public records
business of Information America of Atlanta, Ga., including KnowX.com and
Informed, from The Thomson Corporation. KnowX.com (www.knowx.com) is a leading
Internet based public record research tool for consumer and small office users.
The Informed product line offers qualified users, including commercial lending
and leasing companies, access to public information through the Internet or
dial-up modems.

Ron Fournet, DBT President and CEO, said, "This acquisition represents a
significant opportunity to expand and diversify our customer base and allows us
to market our existing products to the rapidly growing population of Internet
users. Through KnowX.com, we will enter the Internet-based consumer information
services market while Informed will enable us to expand our presence in the
lending and leasing markets."

The acquisition price is $25 million in cash plus 329,172 DBT warrants with a
strike price of $52.50 and a duration of 18 months. Initially, DBT expects the
acquisition to be dilutive to EPS principally due to non-cash goodwill charges
and one-time transition costs. Long-term, DBT expects to increase revenues and
reduce the cost structure of KnowX.com and Informed by leveraging DBT's existing
25-terabyte database containing more than 4 billion public records and other
information. The acquisition is subject to U.S. regulatory approval.

KnowX.com is the fourth busiest "directory" site on the web, with more than 1.8
million unique visitors a month as of June, according to Media Metrix. Based on
the propositions "KnowX.com can help you solve problems both at home and at
work" and "Bringing Public Records to the General Public," KnowX.com enables
users to locate people, research businesses, run background checks, and conduct
more than 30 other types of searches. Its core product, Ultimate People Finder,
provides a low-cost way to locate individuals through public records. Prices
range from $1 for a list of matches to $30 for a complete business background
check for bankruptcies, lawsuits, liens, credit claims, and judgements.

The Informed product line (Informed Investigator, Informed Lender, and Informed
Credit Manager) uses high-speed search and retrieval technology to access
public records and identify relationships between people, assets, and
businesses for a variety of purposes, including lending and leasing
transactions, insurance investigations, government and law enforcement agency
investigations, business due diligence, ownership verifications, and real
property transactions. The web-like interface simplifies searches, encourages
frequent use, and presents significant opportunities to add new content,
products and reports.

"We are uniquely positioned to maximize the potential of KnowX.com and
Informed," said Mr. Fournet. "The acquisition allows us to leverage our current
fixed infrastructure while capitalizing on a growing


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distribution channel for our massive information depository. KnowX.com is a
very successful and rapidly growing platform for building a substantial
business focused on the full spectrum of consumer information needs. Informed
enables us to quickly expand our business in lending and leasing, where it is a
market leader. And both businesses provide long term strategic outlets for our
data."

Scott Griffith, the current President of Information America, will continue to
manage KnowX.com and Informed. "We are delighted to become part of DBT," he
said. "DBT has earned a well deserved reputation as one of the fastest growing
companies in the information sector by utilizing scalable technologies to
deliver premier information products and services to those committed to the
fight against fraud and crime. Thus it is uniquely positioned to provide KnowX
with innovative web-based offerings to help consumers and businesses to become
better informed and avoid unnecessary risk - a growing concern as Internet
commerce continues to expand."

Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation acted as financial advisor to DBT with
respect to the acquisition.

About DBT Online, Inc.

DBT Online, Inc. (www.dbtonline.com) is a leading nationwide provider of
organized online public records data and other information. DBT believes that
its database is one of the country's largest depositories of public records and
other public information, containing more than 4 billion records and more than
25 terabytes of data storage capacity. DBT's customers use its online
information services to detect fraudulent activity, assist law enforcement
efforts, locate people and assets, and verify information and identities, as
well as many other purposes. DBT currently has more than 14,000 customers,
consisting primarily of insurance companies, law firms, private investigators,
and law enforcement and government agencies.

About The Thomson Corporation

The Thomson Corporation (TTC) is one of the world's largest information
companies with approximately 40,000 employees worldwide. TTC operates mainly in
the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and has annual revenues of
over US$6 billion. The Corporation's common shares are traded on the Toronto,
Montreal, and London Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit TTC's
Internet site at www.thomson.com.

CONTACT:  Kimberly Ferro at 215-875-9661 for DBT Online, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements: Information contained above with respect to the
Company's Results of Operations, regarding expected future events and financial
results, is forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Those
statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 31E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The following important factors could
affect the future results of the Company and could cause those results to
differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: (i)
the ability to manage DBT's rapid expansion, (ii) protecting DBT's proprietary
technology, (iii) impact of future government regulation on the availability of
public records, and (iv) the extent, timing and success of competition from
other database providers.