p2pnet - rss feed: What’s in a name?
His name is Mike Rowe.
And he has a website.
Bill Gates is really upset.
Well, maybe not Bill personally. But his lawyers - his Canadian lawyers, that is.
Because Mike, who lives in Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada (and a short drive from p2pnet.net’s thriving central base : ) makes a little extra designing web sites.
“You could say that Mr Rowe’s problems began on 5 August 2003,” says Official Spin here.
That’s when Mike, 17, registered his domain name, “intending to promote his website development business”.
Yep. You guessed it.
mikerowesoft.com
On 19 November, he got an email from Microsoft’s Canadian lawyers Smart & Biggar (honestly - that’s their name) saying MSI wanted MSII to immediately transfer mikerowesoft.com to Microsoft, says Official Spin, continuing:
“Mike wrote back saying that he was not ready to hand over the domain name since he had put a lot of time and effort into establishing his name, including business cards and the cost of publishing his services on the Internet. He further explained that were he to give up the domain, he would lose all the time and effort he had put into it. He then suggested that Microsoft should offer some other proposal for settlement of their allegation.
“Shortly thereafter, Mike received another email from Microsoft’s lawyers in which they offered him just $10 in return for the domain name.”
In a knee-jerk response, which he now regrets, says Official Spin, Mike countered with a request for $10,000 but, “The message was sent as a reply to what he considered an insult - Microsoft’s $10 offer - and was not intended as a serious proposal.”
You mess with MS at your peril and a couple of days ago, Mike found himself on the receiving end of a 25-page letter suggesting it had always been Mike’s plan to sell the domain name to Microsoft for a large cash settlement, which Mike denies.
“I never thought my name would cause Microsoft to take this course of action against me,” he’s quoted as saying on Official Spin. “I just thought it was a good name for my small part-time business.
“In this letter it explains that Microsoft’s customers could get confused between my page and theirs, which doesn’t make any sense since Microsoft doesn’t design websites. They do, however, sell a program called Microsoft FrontPage, which they say can cause some confusion between me making websites for my customers and them selling a program to make websites to their customers.
“I think it is just another example of a huge corporation just trying to intimidate a small business person.”
Sadly, it seems MSI successfully stomped MSII, which is reporting, Could not connect to remote server.
January 19th, 2004 at 3:41 pm
This is a freedom era and no two corporation are same. In coming years i am sure lot of things like this will come into the net.
But i am with you mike and i am sure there are millions of people who are with you. Do not sell the domain name to any body ? Itis your identity why sell it infact make the most of it
January 19th, 2004 at 3:56 pm
Microsoft better go after every possible word combination
that ’sounds’ like Microsoft and threaten them too.
It looks like MYCROWSOFT.com does not belong to them either.
How come they don’t go after them???
Personally I’d fight them to the death on this issue.
Just because they have an army of corrupt executives,
retarded lawyers and idiot bean counters, does not mean
they’re right or that they’ll win.
What is possible with Mike Rowe, is that theyt DID settle with him
for a nice monetary value. BUT we know Microsoft well enough to
know that they would never settle without some kind of non-disclosure
as to the details of the settlement.
January 19th, 2004 at 4:02 pm
Get real.
Mike Rowe elected to run his name together with the word “soft” because it became a homonym for Microsoft and for no other reason. It’s only catchy by virtue of the fact that the big corporation exists, and had it not existed, Mike Rowe would have called his company Mike Rowe Web Design or some other name. MikeRoweSoft doesn’t describe the service Mr. Rowe offers his customers. It merely exploits an existing corporate name. Microsoft has a valid position and Mr. Rowe should have consulted with an attorney if he had any concerns prior to investing money and time into his business name.
January 19th, 2004 at 4:10 pm
Hardly stomped. The poor thing has been slashdotted.
January 19th, 2004 at 4:20 pm
Ha Micro$oft is makeing more enemies by pursueing in this case sub-adults. How in there infinite wisdom they think this will instill a feeling of love for there product. If they were smart( and by the looks of it there not) they would purchase this site for a fair price and all the right to it or as most would do just insist that Mike puts in a disclamer. I expect there lawers will file a suit against all manufacturers of windows, to rename there products to avoid the obvious confusion that this will cause some very stupid people.
Im thinking passive visual portal or optical thermal restraint system..bloddy stupid lawers. Love the name Smart and Bigger.
January 19th, 2004 at 4:36 pm
I see your point… however his name is “Mike Rowe” and as far as we know *soft* is not a copyrighted word. The combination of these words is a homonym however that does not give Microsoft licence or owner ship over it. If little Mikey was selling an OS I could see some sort of confusion( only for very stupid people though). Lindows was as far as I know, unsuccessfully sued over its name. There is also the issue of 17 year olds consulting lawers. This in itself is funny the only 17 year olds that consult lawers are little criminals. Most dont have the finacial means to do so other than the free criminal lawers in the justice system. Microsoft if they are so offended by this site should pay fair market value for it. $10.00 is an insult even to 17 year olds.
January 19th, 2004 at 4:37 pm
The idea that anyone would mistake Microsoft for a 17-year old Canadian kid is, well, absurd.
The notion that Microsoft would take the time to bully this lad is far more believable, isn’t it?
This simply adds more fuel to the fire that burns hotter and hotter for establishing Open Source, and dropping those money grubbing meanies!
Jim C.
Social Engineering
January 19th, 2004 at 4:49 pm
Learn to spell ! cretin !
January 19th, 2004 at 5:02 pm
I don’t normally defend Microsoft, but you have to remember that with trademark law you don’t get a choice about whether to defend your trademark - if you don’t defend it, you can lose it.
If my name was “Lie Nucks” and I set up a website, and Linus Torvalds didn’t ask me to shut it down, he could lose control of his trademark on Linux. Its not likely, but it is possible.
I suspect this is the actual reason Microsoft risked this negative publicity.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:15 pm
Bollocks.
A twenty-five page letter plus enclosures from Big and Smart lawyers cost MS1 a lot more than 10,000 dollars. If pure business concerns are their motivation then MS1 would simply pay the lower price, i.e. pay Mike Rowe 10,000 for the domain.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:19 pm
You sound like a lawyer … the sleezy, MIC RO SOFT kind.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:22 pm
Not if they are boiler plate documents, and who is to say if they agreed to $10,000 that he wouldn’t put up the price again (not to mention the expensive precident it would set)?
January 19th, 2004 at 5:23 pm
Your comments make some sense, however, I read you more explaining MS than defending.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:25 pm
They should ignore him, pay him nothing, and concentrate on more serious threats.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:26 pm
Firstly, we aren’t talking about copyright - we are talking about trademark law.
Secondly, neither “just”, “do”, nor “it!” are trademarked words individually, but you better believe “just do it!” is trademarked. A combination of non-trademarked words can be a trademark (which is obvious if you think about it).
January 19th, 2004 at 5:43 pm
Yes and no. The name MikeRoweSoft as a business entity could not possibly be confused with Microsoft except by a complete idiot, such as a Microsoft attorney. I see no trademark infringement here, certainly no more than Lindows offers. Trademarks are unique by virtue of their spelling. The latest spate of going after “similar” spellings as trademark infringement (particularly in domain names) is being encouraged to eliminate the SLIGHT misspellings that trick or snare people (especially children and mentally incompetents) into opening undesired websites (particularly porn sites). But Mike Rowe has a legitimate name that is not the name “Microsoft” and a legitimate business that is not a Microsoft business (Microsoft does not design websites for people, and FrontPage only purports to assist people in doing that). Since when is a business entity allowed to take an actual name that happens to sound like their corporate name and prevent the person from using it as a business name? The added “Soft” exists on dozens, perhaps hundreds or even thousands, of corporate and partnership names. At which point can a court draw the line and tell Microsoft or anybody else, “Enough is enough. Back off.”? And a 17-year-old who hasn’t thought to consult an attorney (which of them would?) should have the rights here. Microsoft should be forced to prove their assertion that people are in fact being confused by his name. One look at his site should convince anyone that it is innocent of true trademark infringement. Perhaps you could take your troll ass back under the bridge you crawled out from.
January 19th, 2004 at 5:56 pm
Your response was very thoughtful until you decided to flame me in the last sentence. Nice.
All I’m saying is that he would not have chosen the name unless the company Microsoft existed, and that people would not look upon the name as clever or catchy unless it sounded like Microsoft. Therefore, I think Microsoft’s position has merit, not as to whether it confused people - I never claimed that it would - but as to whether he should be allowed to profit from using a homonym of the company’s name.
Lindows is an interesting example of one that Microsoft didn’t try to go after. I’m definitely not for Microsoft and I hate unnecessary legal action, so don’t try to put me in that category. I just think they have a valid position here.
January 19th, 2004 at 7:38 pm
It’d have to be a hell of a typo on the surfer’s part to mistakenly input mikerowesoft.com when trying to reach the other company. I’d argue that no reasonal person would ever make this mistake.
I can also sympathize with Microsoft wanting to protect their image at all costs, but I’m hoping their PR team will figure out that there is more harm to be done doing this, when they could actually be promoting both this kid AND themselves if they were a little more creative.
joe@phojoint.com
January 19th, 2004 at 8:26 pm
The problem is more in voice recognition software and maybe the future of keyless entry. Not typing the totally different names. I think microsoft has sued lindows. But Mike has every right to use his own name. And who is to say MikeRoweSoft would not exist without MicroSoft’s existance, there are hundreds of names with “soft” added to the end of some name.
January 19th, 2004 at 8:28 pm
Sorry… he best way to deal with a smart-alec is to step on him like the cockroach he made himself look like.
January 19th, 2004 at 9:00 pm
I don’t see anyone fussing about it. Micro-macro soft-hard. And yes, it is the only reason someone would think to register it (which they did).
January 19th, 2004 at 9:27 pm
I saw your site this morning.
Here’s what i got when i tried just now [4:20 pm new york time]
“Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access / on this server.
Apache/1.3.27 Server at www.mikerowesoft.com Port 80″
If canadian law is like us law, let them sue you, Mike, and make biggar & smart look as small-time and stupid as they are.
Meanwhile, you should pay them something for turning you into one of the top stories on Google News, today… like maybe $10?
January 19th, 2004 at 9:45 pm
Anonymous Coward wrote Anonymous Coward wrote Anonymous Coward wrote Anonymous Coward wrote go bill rule the world! Love that Billy boy!
January 19th, 2004 at 9:49 pm
Go Bill! Bill for Emperor! Squash the cockroach!
They should give the boy 1000 bucks and a copy of MS Macro Assembler 4.0 and Pätzold’s API Book and call it a day.
January 19th, 2004 at 9:52 pm
You are an idiot and have no clue about law. It is a clear and simple trademark infringement. If M$ wanted to, they could have his ass. (like Michael Jackson…)
January 19th, 2004 at 10:24 pm
I’m hoping MSII isn’t responding simply because it was overwhelmed with traffic today, either too much bandwidth for Mike, or for his host.
In response to Mike Rowe adding the word “soft” to his name; well, he certainly would not add “webdesign” to the end of it. We’ve all been out there trying to find the shortest domain names possible, and are willing to munge our corp./organization names to accommodate that goal.
I suppose if my phone number spelled mse-xcel, they’d come after me next!
January 19th, 2004 at 10:56 pm
Tell them to stuff it!!
The attorneys name says it all!
January 19th, 2004 at 11:18 pm
It’s not like you pulled the name out of a hat. It’s YOUR name. And if HTML is a language (and it is) and you do web design, then isn’t Web Programming a type of software? So why wouldn’t you have the right to register your business with your name?
Besides, anybody who would honestly think Microsoft is MikeRoweSoft is an idiot.
Stick to your guns.
I hate corporate bullies.
For the record….I’m janetj1968@yahoo.com. Not a anonoymous coward. I just hate to register for everything.
January 20th, 2004 at 12:58 am
Here comes the spam… I wouldn’t have done that, had I been you.
January 20th, 2004 at 2:39 am
Microsoft and lawyers never cease to amaze me. Just when I thought I’ve heard the stupidest thing ever, they come up with one better. If this were April 1, I surely would have thought this was a hoax. Incredible.
January 20th, 2004 at 5:37 am
It makes me puke to think that the world’s richest man would waste time, money, energy and face by suing a 17 year old kid
who was smarter than he. Its’ the kid’s name, his website, he registered it 1st. All those multi-million dollar ambulance chasers didn’t think of the possibilities with possible permutations of the sacred M name and beat the kid to the punch. Tough toucas!
Hey Bill Gates, castrate your lawyers not the kid! Don’t you have anything better to do in the world than this? Makes me sorry I bought Microsoft products!
January 20th, 2004 at 5:39 am
It makes me puke to think that the world’s richest man would waste time, money, energy and face by suing a 17 year old kid
who was smarter than he. Its’ the kid’s name, his website, he registered it 1st. All those multi-million dollar ambulance chasers didn’t think of the possibilities with possible permutations of the sacred M name and beat the kid to the punch. Tough toucas!
Hey Bill Gates, castrate your lawyers not the kid! Don’t you have anything better to do in the world than this? Makes me sorry I bought Microsoft products!
January 20th, 2004 at 10:28 am
are u a lawyer for microsoft?
January 20th, 2004 at 4:37 pm
Interesting, I just followed a link to your first story and now find an updated version and I was taken aback after reading down and finding Microsoft did the same thing to another guy in 1997 over the use “NT”.
http://www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=341
May 12th, 2004 at 3:48 am
Bill gates sucks, He is a thieve, always. If there is a Internet Pirate, well Microsoft is a Paracy Group. Basides that, hackers and ofcourse Pirates have an honour code, which Microsoft dont have.
In my opinion, and taking hystory as an example, All empires the biggest empires falled, I dont know when, but some day Mocosoft will fall. At this time, if you notice, free software is winning the battle, Php against ASP - Windows against Linux. Microsoft, make us pirates, selling shit at high prices.
If I were this guy, I would take legal actions against microsoft.
I hope microsoft empire fall soon, Free the Internet, free the world.
SANGRE O LIBERTAD