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Technology Stocks : NewKidCo International (OTC:NKCIF) (TSE:NKC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: esecurities(tm) who wrote (914)	12/21/1997 5:46:00 PM
From: esecurities(tm)	Respond to of 4231

Issues of Fact:Alpha brings $12 million suit against Lernout Hauspie, 12-9-97. Alpha Software Corporation Brings Suit Against a Division of Lernout & Hauspie BURLINGTON, Mass. (Dec. 9, 1997) - Alpha Software Corporation, a subsidiary of SoftQuad International Inc. (NASDAQ: SWEBF; TSE:SKI) , announced today it has filed a legal action against Kurzweil, Inc. (formerly Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Inc.), a division of Lernout & Hauspie (NASDAQ: LHSPF, EASDAQ:LHSP.ED), seeking an estimated $9 to $12 million in damages for breach of contract, plus consequential and other damages. Alpha Software's claim is based upon Kurzweil's violation of Alpha Software's contractual right of first refusal for exclusive distribution rights, in the United States and Canada, to Kurzweil's forthcoming line of continuous voice recognition software products. Recently, Lernout & Hauspie, which purchased Kurzweil Applied Intelligence in 1997, announced that it would market these programs itself. "We felt that the relationship we had with Kurzweil was extremely productive for both parties," said Alpha Software's C.E.O. Richard Rabins, "and we are shocked by Kurzweil's outright renunciation of our agreement for new continuous voice recognition products. Alpha Software intends to aggressively pursue recovery of all damages to which it is entitled." Alpha Software's sales this quarter have been negatively impacted by the decline in sales of Kurzweil VoicePad, VoicePlus and VoicePro which compete in the discrete dictation voice recognition software category. The dictation category has moved rapidly from discrete dictation products to continuous dictation products. Alpha had originally anticipated that it would ship VoiceExpress, Kurzweil's continuous voice dictation product, at the end of the fourth quarter. Alpha anticipates a shortfall in net revenue from voice products in the fourth quarter of approximately $1 million (U.S.)..." alphasoftware.com

To: esecurities(tm) who wrote (914)	12/22/1997 12:43:00 AM
From: esecurities(tm)	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4231

Issues of Fact:Microsoft invests $45 mil in LHSPF and joins LHSPF Board, 9-14-97. ) ) In Re: Alleged Conspiracy to Defraud, Antitrust, Fraudulent ) Conspiracy, Restraint of Trade, Undue Influence, Unfair Competition, ) RICO Act Violations, Fraudulent Misreprentation, et al ) "...Under the terms of the alliance, Microsoft will purchase $45 million of Lernout & Hauspie common stock to take a minority stake in the speech recognition technology company. Together, the two companies will work together to develop voice-enabled computing technologies in multiple languages for the Windows platform, officials say...The companies have agreed to share technologies in order to cooperate more closely...More specifically, Lernout & Hauspie will develop applications for current and future versions of Microsoft's speech application programming interface (SAPI). At the beginning of this year [ref/Intent] , the two companies announced a cross-licensing agreement to develop speech recognition products for Windows. The first fruit of that alliance is a voice-controlled software editor for Microsoft Word which Lernout & Hauspie will release in October [Voice Commands]...The two companies also plan to form a European joint-venture company to collect and analyze speech and linguistic data for use in the development of future speech recognition products, officials said...In related news, Microsoft also announced that Bernard Vergnes, chairman of Microsoft Europe, will join Lernout & Hauspie's board of directors. In addition, Microsoft said it will invest $3 million in the Flanders Language Valley Fund CVA (FLV), a Belgium-based international technology center dedicated to helping companies develop speech-based technologies and applications..." facts.idg.co.nz Note: This was 3 weeks after SoftQuad announced [forced] price reduction due to pending continuous-voice rec product introductions [and in SoftQuad (the Company) and shareholder reliance upon marketing Alpha-Kurzweil-Lernout Voice Xpress, et al] and two weeks before Lernout announced October shipment of VoiceCommands (ref/Sep 30).