MikeRoweSoft.com
Found this terribly funny and frightening:
Same old line...MicroSoft is 'concerned' that "it's customers could get confused between his site and their site."
Insanity.
news linky
The Reg makes me chuckle.
Quote:
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.
Mike Rowe, who registered the domain name in August 2003, received an email from Microsoft's lawyers three months later asking him to transfer the domain name to Microsoft. They also offered to pay him a "settlement" of $10 (£5.55), which is the cost of his original registration fee.
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.
Mike Rowe, who registered the domain name in August 2003, received an email from Microsoft's lawyers three months later asking him to transfer the domain name to Microsoft. They also offered to pay him a "settlement" of $10 (£5.55), which is the cost of his original registration fee.
Same old line...MicroSoft is 'concerned' that "it's customers could get confused between his site and their site."
Insanity.
news linky
The Reg makes me chuckle.
Comments
Unfortunately he publicly stated that he thought it would be "cool" to have a domain name that sounded like Microsoft(TM! TM! please don't sue me Bill) - I hope that doesn't weaken his case too much.
I think Microsoft has gone a little too far with this one, but they may just be covering their arses w.r.t. trademark law (I believe that it's "use it or lose it" in the States...)
If MS wins this, it'll be a sad day for trademark law.
Besides sounding like Microsoft, somebody might get "confused" by the "my flying thing" connection, as in "my butterfly" vs. "my crow". (I'd like it better, actually, if the MSN commercials used guys in big black crow suits hovering menacingly over people's shoulders.)
Get after 'em, Bill! Before it's too late!
Originally posted by talksense101
Am I allowed to cuss in the general discussion forum? I can't think of anything nice to say about M$.
Yeah, they really ain't much more than a bunch of fücking tools
Originally posted by ipodandimac
and honestly, who would misspell microsoft as "mikerowesoft".... everyone bake a pie for bill gates' face
Yep. Not even the Italians or the Engrish speakers would spell M$ as mikerowsoft.com ... ... oh, is miclosoft.com free?
I really hope the kid wins the case.
And he should sue M$ for giving him stress. 5 mln $ or so..
Wait, I remember where I was going with this: the fact that it's his name actually doesn't insulate him. Just because, for example, your name is Nike, doesn't mean you get to start a company named Nike's Shoes and cash-in.
However, that doesn't matter in this case. There's no way anybody in the world would confuse "MikeRoweSoft" for "Microsoft."
However, that doesn't matter, because Miscrosoft can make nearly anything happen.
That was hilarious ...
Originally posted by spotcatbug
However, that doesn't matter, because Miscrosoft can make nearly anything happen.
Except a workable user-friendly OS.
Originally posted by Guartho
Except a workable user-friendly OS.
They're working on it...
mikerowesoft.com has had to shut down due to 250,000 hits in 12 hours
press coverage cuts both ways... his web design business just got free PR on CNN
<crowd throws rotten veggies at me>
I don't actually think this kid deserves to be sued, M$ created a horrible PR nightmare with that, but obviously the kid registered the domain name BECAUSE of it's similarity to Microsoft. Anybody can see that. I doubt MikeRoweSoft is the type of organization that can rival the real Microsoft in it's own arena, but if M$ doesn't take steps to protect their name and trademark from Mike Rowe, then they can't sue people that are really trying to edge in on them either.
This kid will surely settle with M$ for a tidy sum (read: thousands) for the hard work he did of registering a domain name, but mark my words: If this goes to court or arbitration, Microsoft will easily walk away the victor.
Either way, I hate Windows for sure.
Microsoft: We took MikeRoweSoft too seriously
By Munir Kotadia
ZDNet (UK)
January 20, 2004, 9:30 AM PT
Microsoft says it may have been 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 $10, which is the cost of his original registration fee.
However, after the case received widespread coverage on the Internet, Microsoft acknowledged that it may have taken things too far and promised to treat Rowe fairly. A representative of the software company told ZDNet UK: "We appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name. We take our trademark seriously, but maybe a little too seriously in this case."
Under the law, Microsoft is required to take action to protect its trademark against widespread infringement. Struan Robertson, editor of Out-Law.com, a Web site that covers legal issues affecting information technology, explained that if a holder does not take action to protect its trademark whenever it is aware of a potential infringement, it risks losing that protection.
Robertson gives Hoover as an example of a trademark that has become a generic word for vacuum cleaning: "If you or I talk about hoovering our house, that is not an issue, but if Electrolux talks about hoovering, that is an issue," he said.
According to Robertson, Rowe may have a good argument for keeping the domain name, because it is his real name, and he isn't pretending to be affiliated with Microsoft. But he said Microsoft probably regrets getting involved with the case because of all the bad publicity it has generated.
"It is probably a very trivial issue for Microsoft, and I wouldn't be surprised if they regret getting involved with it. Microsoft may be prepared to pay him some money to make this go away, because this is not the kind of publicity that Microsoft wants to attract," added Robertson.
Microsoft hopes to resolve the problem in a way that is agreeable to both parties: "We are currently in the process of resolving this matter in a way that will be fair to him and satisfy our obligations under trademark law," the representative said.
Originally posted by muah
but if M$ doesn't take steps to protect their name and trademark from Mike Rowe, then they can't sue people that are really trying to edge in on them either.
That is only true if you can somebody involved in trademark litigation with Microsoft can prove that "mikerowesoft.com" was a trademark violation.
I don't know enough about trademark law to have a good idea if it is a trademark violation or not... of course, like most people, I have a hunch that it isn't and MS is just overreacting.
Barto
Microsoft has a PR issue here, not a legal one. But regardless, they have a right/duty to defend their trademark. I am not suggesting that Mike Rowe was cybersquatting (which I really don't think he is) but M$ could easily not even give the kid the $10 they offered him and win this case in arbitration.
If this was a business that wasn't as hated as M$, you would have never heard anything about it.