Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Microsoft vs. Michael Rowe

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Microsoft vs. Michael Rowe

link

Microsoft is trying to make Mike Rowe give up his domain http://MikeRoweSoft.com to them for $10 or less.

In this day an age, I guess you cant take chances with anything close to your name. In the corporate world, there is no such thing as free speech.

I liked the Fark headline for this one, for once: George Oogle surrenders.

Comments?

that........ is pathetic.

$10 or less? that is a complete load of shit.

they have the resources to give him a million dollars for the domain, that's a damn travesty.

Are they afraid they are going to miss illiterate customers who can't spell Microsoft properly?

He should counter sue claiming their domain name is a play on his birth name.

Its 10 dollars because they're already going to spend a few thousand on the case.. so it'll be like buying it for a few thousand and ten bucks!.... the brains on these people... Just offer HIM the couple thousand and ten bucks...

I saw this on Slashdot this morning...

I think its fucking nuts. I mean, my last name is Arp, which also happens to be a networking protocol. Do I have to worry about being sued by some corporation someday? Am I out suing people? Look at these:

www.arp.org
www.arp.com
www.arp.net (redirects)
www.arp.cc

Microsoft needs to leave this kid alone, though you've got to admit he was asking for trouble when he bought www.mikerowesoft.com instead of mikerowe.com or something.

the point of the low money offer is to trap into asking for more. this makes it looks like he was never serious about keeping the site, he was just squatting.

Quote:

He wrote back asking to be compensated for giving up his name. Microsoft's lawyers offered him $10 in U.S. funds. Then he asked for $1,000.

This guy is, officially, an idiot.

I feel so bad for this guy, farked, /.ed and registered all on the same day. I bet his server is in a puddle of molten metal, plastic and silicon right now.

Looks like his site is down at the moment. I hope he sticks to his guns. Corporations should not have a right to the entire english language. Moreover, Mike Rowe should slap together a quick parody website and put that as his current domain. The courts have long upheld the right to political (parody) speech -- including the use of registered names in said commentary.

Quote:

Originally posted by nanofever
I feel so bad for this guy, farked, /.ed and registered all on the same day. I bet his server is in a puddle of molten metal, plastic and silicon right now.

I agree....that sucks big time

Damnit numist you beat me to it! I was just about to post this :)

here's a link to the CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/interne....ap/index.html

This is utterly rediculous. I'm glad to know I live in a day and age where a company can claim take someone to court just cause their name sounds like the company's. :rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally posted by seretogis
This guy is, officially, an idiot.

I thought I read that he asked for $10,000 not $1000.

And the only reason why he asked for 10 grand was because he was so insulted that they offered him a lousy $10.

Do you blame Microsoft or the lawyers? I highly doubt they needed to consult Bill on this issue. Too bad the kid didn't speak with a lawyer first, however is the name really worth the legal fess it might cost him?

Unfortuntaly Micsrosoft will probably win.

This thread has already been posted here the moment the story hit the shelves.
Please do a search before posting new threads.

I like mb99usa's idea, though. Hes been alive longer than te company (almost all of us on this forum have) so he could countersue under the same argument.

If Microsoft wins, the judge has to allow the countercase and it has to win on the same premise.
If Microsoft loses, then the coutercase will fail as well, but it wont matter because the end result will be the same, and then he also has the ability to countersue again for damages associated with a bunk lawsuit.

<a href="http://rss.com.com/2100-1014_3-5143614.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news">HERE'S</a> the followup story:

Quote:

Microsoft: We took MikeRoweSoft too seriously
Last modified: January 20, 2004, 9:30 AM PST
By Munir Kotadia
Special to CNET News.com

Microsoft says it may have overaggressive in threatening Web entrepreneur Mike Rowe over the name of his Web site, Mikerowesoft.com.

Rowe, a 17-year-old student from Vancouver, British Columbia, registered Mikerowesoft.com to front his part-time Web site design business in August 2003. Three months later, he received an e-mail from Microsoft's lawyers asking him to transfer the domain name to Microsoft. They offered to pay him a "settlement" of $10, which is the cost of his original registration fee.

However, after the case received widespread coverage on the Internet, Microsoft has acknowledged it may have taken things too far and has promised to treat Rowe fairly. A representative for the software company told ZDNet UK: "We appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name. We take our trademark seriously, but maybe a little too seriously in this case."

Under the law, Microsoft is required to take action to protect its trademark against widespread infringement. Struan Robertson, editor of Out-Law.com, a Web site that covers legal issues affecting information technology, explained that if a holder does not take action to protect its trademark whenever it is aware of a potential infringement, it risks losing that protection.

Robertson gives Hoover as an example of a trademark that has become a generic word for vacuum cleaning: "If you or I talk about hoovering our house, that is not an issue, but if Electrolux talks about hoovering, that is an issue," he said.

According to Robertson, Rowe may have a good argument for keeping the domain name because it is his real name and he isn't pretending to be affiliated with Microsoft. But he said that Microsoft probably regrets getting involved with the case because of all the bad publicity it has generated.

"It is probably a very trivial issue for Microsoft, and I wouldn't be surprised if they regret getting involved with it. Microsoft may be prepared to pay him some money to make this go away because this is not the kind of publicity that Microsoft wants to attract," added Robertson.

Microsoft hopes to resolve the problem in a way that both parties are happy: "We are currently in the process of resolving this matter in a way that will be fair to him and satisfy our obligations under trademark law," the representative said.

Munir Kodatia of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Followup also found at ZDNet: link