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Go Computer founder in antitrust suit By Eric Auchard and Reed Stevenson SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - The founder of Go Computer, a pioneer of pen-based computing that was once seen as a possible alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems, filed antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft last week. In parallel complaints filed last Wednesday in U.S. federal and California state courts, Jerry Kaplan, the founder of Go Computer Inc., seeks to piggyback on a wave of successful antitrust actions that Microsoft has settled in recent years. Microsoft settled a landmark antitrust case with the U.S. government in 2002 that was followed by agreements with several U.S. states, the European Union and industry rivals. The Go case was filed one day before a settlement deal was struck between Microsoft and IBM in which Microsoft agreed to pay $775 million and provide some additional credits to IBM. Go Computer, which was founded by Kaplan in 1987, created operating software that relied on a special pen and handwriting recognition system to control computers instead of the keyboards used by Microsoft's DOS and Windows software. Go was a forerunner to development of Palm handheld computers. "Microsoft saw Go's PC operating system as a serious threat to its operating system monopoly and took swift covert action to 'kill' it just as it did the Netscape/Sun Java threat to its monopoly," according to Go's private action in federal court. The U.S. antitrust case centered on Microsoft's efforts to crush rival software from Web browser pioneer Netscape Communications Corp. and allies such as Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Sun pioneered Java, a programming system that allows software to run on a wide range of computers. In the late 1980s, Go's operating system PenPoint, was designed to make computers easier to use. In some respects, the idea lives on in Microsoft-based tablet computers that allow users to input data via keyboard or handwriting on a screen. Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said in a statement the assertions in the Go case were without merit. "These claims date back nearly 20 years," Drake said. "They were baseless then, and they are baseless now."
http://www.microsite.reuters.com
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