Heres a dumb thing for Microsoft to do

The Mullinator

The Mullinator

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34955.html

Heres something that makes me pissed off at Microsoft. I think you have to go through a short free registry to see the article but here is the first paragraph of it:

"In what could easily be mistaken for an Onion story, Microsoft has unleashed the full fury of its lawyers on 17-year-old Canadian high-school student, Mike Rowe, demanding the handover of his Internet domain.

The domain? MikeRoweSoft.com. No, seriously."
 
Yeah I really wish this guy gets a great deal of money out of it. This M$ demand is ridiculous:


Microsoft lawyers threaten Mike Rowe (17)
By Kieren McCarthy
Posted: 19/01/2004 at 10:48 GMT
Get The Reg wherever you are, with The Mobile Register

In what could easily be mistaken for an Onion story, Microsoft has unleashed the full fury of its lawyers on 17-year-old Canadian high-school student, Mike Rowe, demanding the handover of his Internet domain.

The domain? MikeRoweSoft.com. No, seriously.

Victoria-based Mike is currently studying maths and chemistry and plans to study computer science at Victoria University next year. He registered the domain in August because he thought it would be cool to have a site that sounded like the famous company to show his Web designing skills.

The Beast of Redmond however reckons that the phonetic domain infringes its copyright and insists Mike hand it over or face the consequences.

Mike told us that when an email from Microsoft’s Canadian lawyers Smart & Biggar arrived on 19 November laying out its complaint, he was “amazed and appalled”. He replied saying he didn’t want to hand over the domain and didn’t feel there was any risk it would damage Microsoft’s name.

He then got another email. “They responded to this email by offering to give me all of my out-of-pocket expenses in return for the domain name. This came out to be $10; the amount I paid for the domain. This made me feel insulted. I had spent a lot of time building up my site and I had only been offered $10 for my work. I responded by asking for $10,000, which I regret doing now, for my work and domain name.”

As he now knows, Mike had unwittingly slipped into the classic trap set by companies in order to get hold of domain names - the creation of a “bad faith” use of the domain. By offering to sell the domain for profit (even if sparked by the offer of payment by the other party), according to the bent logic of domain dispute arbitrators, it shows the owner had no legitimate interest in the domain and so it should be handed over.

Microsoft, with its case bolstered, declined and Mike heard no more until 14 January when a 25-page letter and book were Fed-Ex’ed to his house explaining why he would have to hand over the domain, stating he had intended all along to sell the domain for profit and that his domain would confuse Microsoft customers.

“I decided to go to the press when I received the package from the lawyers’ office. I thought people would be interested in my story and I wanted to know what people had to say about the situation I am in. There is really nothing I can do to push or fight this except for telling people how things are going with the whole situation. The domain dispute is in the hands of the WIPO at the moment so I have no control over what happens to my domain name.”

Can Microsoft really be attempting to take a phonetic-sounding domain name? Well, Mike is reassuringly candid and although we have not seen Microsoft’s letter and the company has yet to confirm or deny its threats are real, it seems to hang together. Unless Mike is a first-rate hoaxer, it would appear that Microsoft really has lost the plot and is trying to extend the already flawed domain dispute rules into hitherto unexplored territory.

By making the situation public though, Mike tells us he has been bolstered. “After going to the press, I have realised that I should stick it out till the end. After the massive amount of support I have received from people across the globe I am motivated to stick with what I believe in.”

And so he should. It would seem Microsoft has no choice but to back down as, legally, it doesn’t have a hope in hell of winning and there are plenty of lawyers out there who would love to get a win against Microsoft under their belt.

Mike doesn’t quite know what to make of it all: “I can’t say I have ever been in a more surreal situation than this. It has all been quite overwhelming really. I don’t know what to say about it, I have just been going with the flow.” ®
 
This is the thing you do, never answer emails, or open from big companies...Its a smart thing to do, and if they take you to court, you tell them you never got such an email and stuff like that, and they really cannot do anything legally to you, I suppose, since no prior knowledge to this whole event.
 
or u could tell them to f*** off and dont turn up to court. When the cops come have a firefight with them and with your hl skills and take over microsoft!
 
Yeah it would be like a game. It started off as just some kid from canada. It turned into his fight for survival against misguided cops, and Microsoft goons. Eventually he would have to face down Bill Gates....of course Bill Gates is an "uber geek" and therefore has only the strength to move and not actually do anything else.
 
Microsoft has admitted it took things 'too seriously' when its lawyers threatened a 17-year-old student called Mike Rowe over his domain name

Microsoft has admitted it may have made a mistake in threatening Mike Rowe for using his Web site, mikerowesoft.com Rowe, a student from Vancouver, registered mikerowesoft.com to front his part-time Web site design business in August 2003. Three months later, he received an email from Microsoft's lawyers asking him to transfer the domain name to Microsoft. They offered to pay him a "settlement" of $10 (£5.55), which is the cost of his original registration fee. However, after the case received widespread coverage on the Internet, Microsoft has admitted it may have taken things too far and has promised to treat Rowe fairly. A Microsoft spokesperson 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 legal IT Web site Out-Law.com, explained that if a trademark 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: "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.

Source: www.neowin.net
 
He should give up the domain, then make a game called MikeRoweSoft, then make a sequel called microsoft strikes back, then mak a game called return of the mike. Then when they send him emails say it was a different mike rowe with the same adress, who lives in a different canada.
 
that's nice that microsoft admitted they were retarded...i didn't really expect that. Their argument that people could somehow confuse the two when typing it in a web browser is just ridiculous. I see their point about wanting the domain...but offering the guy $10 was a horrible idea.
 
amen to that.. NO... lets circumstise them with bricks... and make love to their women
 
Beware the Canadians- we're not pushovers, hehe.

So did he get paid the 10 thousand? That would be nice to get a cash settlement for coming up with a clever name.
 
Beware Suicide 42 more like. Anyway...
This just goes to show how far corporate ludicrousness has come...
 
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