<s>
It	O
is	O
known	O
primarily	O
for	O
its	O
Lempel	B-Algorithm
–	I-Algorithm
Ziv	I-Algorithm
–	I-Algorithm
Stac	I-Algorithm
lossless	B-Algorithm
compression	I-Algorithm
algorithm	O
and	O
Stacker	B-Application
disk	B-General_Concept
compression	I-General_Concept
utility	O
for	O
compressing	O
data	O
for	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
engineering	O
to	O
adapt	O
its	O
data	O
compression	O
chips	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
implemented	O
a	O
DOS	B-Device
driver	O
that	O
transparently	O
compressed	O
data	O
written	O
to	O
a	O
PC	O
hard	O
disk	O
and	O
decompressed	O
the	O
data	O
transparently	O
upon	O
subsequent	O
hard	O
disk	O
reads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
DOS	B-Device
driver	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
x86	B-Operating_System
assembly	O
language	O
under	O
contract	O
by	O
Paul	O
Houle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
the	O
company	O
released	O
Stacker	B-Application
,	O
a	O
disk	B-General_Concept
compression	I-General_Concept
utility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
average	O
,	O
Stacker	B-Application
doubled	O
disk	O
capacity	O
,	O
and	O
usually	O
increased	O
disk	O
performance	O
by	O
compressing	O
the	O
data	O
before	O
writing	O
and	O
after	O
reading	O
,	O
compensating	O
for	O
the	O
relative	O
slowness	O
of	O
the	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stac	O
sold	O
several	O
million	O
units	O
of	O
Stacker	B-Application
over	O
the	O
product	O
's	O
lifetime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Salient	O
Software	O
would	O
license	O
Stac	O
's	O
acceleration	O
technology	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
their	O
NuBus	B-Device
DoubleUp	O
and	O
PDS	B-Device
Bullet	O
cards	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
though	O
they	O
would	O
use	O
Salient	O
's	O
own	O
DiskDoubler	B-Application
software	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
scrambled	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
revenues	O
lost	O
after	O
the	O
market	O
for	O
hard	B-General_Concept
drive	I-General_Concept
compression	I-General_Concept
software	O
collapsed	O
with	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
DoubleSpace	B-General_Concept
in	O
MS-DOS	O
and	O
the	O
rapid	O
decline	O
in	O
hard	O
disk	O
cost	O
per	O
megabyte	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
funds	O
from	O
its	O
IPO	O
(	O
1992	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
settlement	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
Stac	O
acquired	O
a	O
remote	B-Protocol
desktop	I-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
product	O
called	O
"	O
ReachOut	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
acquired	O
a	O
server	O
image	O
backup	O
product	O
,	O
"	O
Replica	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
internally	O
developed	O
a	O
network	O
backup	O
product	O
for	O
workstations	B-Device
and	O
laptops	B-Device
,	O
and	O
marketed	O
this	O
product	O
first	O
as	O
"	O
Replica	O
NDM	O
"	O
and	O
later	O
as	O
"	O
eSupport	O
Essentials	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1993	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
MS-DOS	O
6.0	O
,	O
which	O
included	O
a	O
disk	B-General_Concept
compression	I-General_Concept
program	O
called	O
DoubleSpace	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
filed	O
an	O
injunction	O
against	O
Stac	O
to	O
prevent	O
the	O
company	O
from	O
selling	O
its	O
Stacker	B-Application
3.1	O
software	O
for	O
Windows	O
and	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
attracting	O
claims	O
from	O
Stac	O
representatives	O
that	O
with	O
a	O
licensing	O
deal	O
having	O
been	O
made	O
with	O
rival	O
DOS	B-Device
vendor	O
,	O
Novell	O
,	O
and	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
no	O
longer	O
facing	O
action	O
from	O
the	O
Federal	O
Communications	O
Commission	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
had	O
become	O
emboldened	O
to	O
"	O
dominate	O
the	O
data	O
compression	O
market	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
a	O
California	O
jury	O
ruled	O
the	O
infringement	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
was	O
not	O
willful	O
,	O
but	O
awarded	O
Stac	O
$120	O
million	O
in	O
compensatory	O
damages	O
,	O
coming	O
to	O
about	O
$5.50	O
per	O
copy	O
of	O
MS-DOS	O
6.0	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
sold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
jury	O
also	O
agreed	O
with	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
counterclaim	O
that	O
Stac	O
had	O
misappropriated	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
trade	O
secret	O
of	O
a	O
pre-loading	O
feature	O
that	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
Stacker	B-Application
3.1	O
,	O
and	O
simultaneously	O
awarded	O
Microsoft	O
$13.6	O
million	O
on	O
the	O
counterclaim	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Microsoft	O
prepared	O
an	O
appeal	O
,	O
Stac	O
obtained	O
a	O
preliminary	O
injunction	O
from	O
the	O
court	O
stopping	O
the	O
sales	O
of	O
all	O
MS-DOS	O
products	O
that	O
included	O
DoubleSpace	B-General_Concept
;	O
by	O
this	O
time	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
already	O
started	O
shipping	O
an	O
"	O
upgrade	O
"	O
of	O
MS-DOS	O
to	O
its	O
OEM	O
customers	O
that	O
removed	O
DoubleSpace	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
