m$

Now that's not a bad way to get your 15 minutes worth!

[richardb]

Microsoft has set its lawyers onto a 17-year-old software writer from Vancouver, called Mike Rowe, because he has registered MikeRoweSoft.com, which the company said infringes on its copyright.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39119181,00.htm

Rich

[edited by: lawman at 5:34 pm (utc) on Jan. 19, 2004]
[edit reason] adjust link [/edit]

[lawman]

Haha, I wonder if anyone owns MyCrowSoft.

lawman

[TheDoctor]

I used to work with a programmer called Mike Crowe. If he's still around, he might have missed a chance here.

[hannamyluv]

I hope Mr. Rowe has adsense going. His site is going to be slammed in the next few days. NPR had a story about this on Morning Edition. And it been all over the news in Europe for the past few days.

They really don't have a case, and I can't believe the cheap jerks at M$ just won't give the kid the $1000 he wants for the name.

[lawman]

I thought he wanted $10000. Probably much less than M$ has already spent on attorneys. :)

lawman

[hannamyluv]

NPR's story said $1000, but they could be wrong. I don't think $10,000 is out of bounds either though.

There have been cases like this in court before, and most have them have said unless the site that is being contested could be confused with the trademark, there isn't a trademark infringement.

[Fiver]

the problem is, m$ used the slimy technique of offering the kid ten dollars... so, of course the kid balked and said he wanted more. that was his mistake. If he'd simply said I'm sorry this is a private domain not for sale, he might be fine.

Now, in court, Microsoft can easily prove that the kid was using the domain to profit off of their name, and that he attempted to gouge ms for costs... and microsoft will win.

[Tropical Island]

I've been trying to look at the site with a dial-up and it won't download.

Probably server strain.

Hope he's paying for lot's of traffic. He could be in for a big surprise.

[hannamyluv]

There was a case awhile back of victorssecret.com Vs. Victoriassecret.com. Victoria's tried to go after Victor's because they were usings a similar sounding name to sell a similar product (except I believe they were going after gay men instead of busty women). The court's ruled that there was no infringment b/c no one would confuse the two sites.

I took a look at the site this morning. If anyone thought that his site was Microsoft's, they have been hiding in a hole. He in no way affiliating himself with Microsoft. He does webdesign. If anything, M$ has done this child a favor. They made him into a David and I bet the kid will get a lot of new business from people who want to stick it to M$ in any way possible.

[Fiver]

Hanna, I think you'd be right if the poor kid hadn't asked them for 1k after they offered 10 dollars.

ms' lawyers knew what they were doing when they did that, and chances are, he's without a paddle up a rather smelly creek right now, based on a provable technicality

You can still see the google cache of his site.

[lawman]

Lemme see. Kid has site in no way related to M$. M$ no like.

M$ makes offer of ten bucks. Kid makes counter offer. Rather than negotiate in good faith, M$ puts its crack team of kid-busting lawyers on the case and cranks out a 25 page letter. Apparently the letter doesn't accuse the kid of any attempt at profiteering. Rather it explains why the his site could cause confusion to the detriment of M$.

HML believes the kid could win in court. Fiver thinks M$ has diabolically set the kid up for the suit of a lifetime, bad publicity be damned.

What is reality? Who knows. Even if the kid could win in court, who'll help him pay for it while M$ keeps the meter running?

On the other hand, why would M$ spend thousands more on attorneys and legal fees when they could settle for much less than $10K? Would they do it just for meanness and bad publicity? Probably not.

My prediction: The kid'll sell the domain name for much less than $10K.

lawman

[lgn1]

Well the way I look at it, the kid name is mike rowe and he sells software. Microsoft does not stand a chance. After Microsoft loses and pays the kids court costs, the $10000 would have been a bargain.

Pretty soon you are going to see Microsoft lawyers in the maternity ward. Im sorry, you cannot name your kid Mike Row, as it will be construed as a dilution of the companies name,
unless you sign this waiver, saying that your baby will never take up a profession as a computer software engineer, or related profession :)

Update:It appears that the site is down. The CNN story probably overloaded the ISP. Maybe the 10K will pay for bandwidth used.

[chris_f]

m$ have no grounds here. The name is similar, so what. He in no way implies he is microsoft and doesn't use any of their trade marks.

There was a similar story in the UK about 3 years ago. A guy had registered MikeOSoft.com. They didn't offer him anything (not even the $10). A lawyer sponsered him for free (publicity rules) and he won. Now a very rich man.

I'll try and dig out the links. I followed this very closely.
atob.c

[hartlandcat]

Haha, I wonder if anyone owns MyCrowSoft.

I believe it's a free url redirection service.

[korkus2000]

Look at ICANN rules. He registered it in bad faith. Looks open and shut to me. He admits registering it because it is like microsoft. 10,000, which is what many sources are reporting as a quote from him, is way too much for the name.

[Fiver]

diabolically set the kid up for the suit of a lifetime, bad publicity be damned.

I think they intentionally set it up so that they had documented evidence of the kid's intention to get money for the domain from m$. Set up of a technicality. They already got a load of bad publicity for ever bringing it up... if it were about PR they would have never conacted him, no?

[lawman]

Fiver:

1) read my entire post;

2) you've already answered your own question. :)

lawman

[grandpa]

I just went over to Mikes site, and dang it, there were absolutely NO links for ANY updates. I'm lost and confused without those links...

Too bad about the technicality. Still, if M$ should win
a court case here it can only be a black eye for them.
All the philanthropy in the world isn't worth squat if
you're still a mean-spirited, money-grubbing corporation.
Just my opinion.

grandpa

[Tropical Island]

On CNN this morning:

"We take our trademark seriously, but in this case maybe a little too seriously," the company said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

"That said, we appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name. 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."

Whole story is here:
[cnn.com...]

Seems like the kid has made a deal with another web design company. In hindsight M$ would have been better off leaving this thing alone.

[Sanenet]

"MS spokesperson Desler said Microsoft would cover Mike's costs of changing to a new Web site, and help the teen get Microsoft certification training and other gifts, hoping to nuture "his interest in technology.""

The kid gave in!

[lgn1]

That training it self is worth over $6000 (US dollars). It appears that the Kid/Young Adult pretty well got what he wanted in perks.

Being 17, the training will probabaly last a lot longer than the cash, and do better good anyways.