Microsoft -v- mikerowesoft:
Yesterday, we wrote: "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."
That changed. Fast.
You can bet Bill knows who Mike is now.
And personally.
Mike, 17, lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. He thought he’d come up with a cool marketing idea when he launched his web design site as (Yep) mikerowesoft.com. A bit obvious, but harmless, you’d have thought.
But no. THE Microsoft set a team of heavyweight lawyers on Mike. They threatened him because of the ’similarity’ between the names and demanded that he transfer the domain name to Microsoft, offering to pay Mike ten bucks, the cost of registering mikerowesoft.com …
… and generated instant outrage around the world
Now Microsoft is back-peddling. Hard. It admits it may have been a little hasty and perhaps took things a little too seriously.
"We appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name," a Microsoft spokesperson is quoted as saying in a ZDNet UK story here. "We take our trademark seriously, but maybe a little too seriously in this case."
And now, "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."
In the meanwhile, as someone posted on p2pnet:
"… you should pay them something for turning you into one of the top stories on Google News, today … like maybe $10?"
Or as someone else posted, "Love that Billy boy!"
And as The Age points out way over in Australia, "Bill Gates was about Mike Rowe’s age when he began Microsoft."
January 20th, 2004 at 4:32 pm
That’s it……I’m officially switching to Linux.
Ditchman
January 20th, 2004 at 4:55 pm
WHAT A JOKE. WHAT ARE THE BIG BOYS AFRAID OF. THEY JUST GAVE MIKE RECOGNITION.
JERRY
January 20th, 2004 at 4:56 pm
I GAVE MY NAME STUPID. NO COWARD HEREEEEEEEEE.
JERRY
January 20th, 2004 at 4:58 pm
I GAVE MY NAME STUPID. NO COWARD HEREEEEEEEEE.
JERRY
January 20th, 2004 at 5:38 pm
January 20th, 2004 at 6:04 pm
If Microsoft accually sees Mike Rowe as a potential opposition, maybe they should offer the man a position with them.
January 20th, 2004 at 6:20 pm
$10.00- This is HIGH priced LAWYERS and Corpoate America’s pay 10.00 measily dollars.Heartless people.
January 20th, 2004 at 6:23 pm
We see the DEVIL, and it is CORPORATE America.
From :Cowardly Lion.
January 20th, 2004 at 10:07 pm
Of course my first reaction is to be on the side of the little guy, the 17 year old kid in this story who’s name is Mike Rowe- I’m offended initially that Microsoft is egotistical as to try intimidate this person out of using his own name. It seems like bullying and infringement on Mike Rowe’s rights. The problem is, he added the word soft. It is obviously a play on the word Microsoft. He is associating his product with the product of Microsoft. While I still have sympathy for Mr. Rowe ultimately, I believe he is wrong. He can not knowingly associate his company with another company even in the spirit of a pun and humor. The reputation of both companies is at stake and Microsoft has much more to lose. Microsoft really can’t afford to let anyone or everyone ride on thier coat tails to fame. If Mr. Rowe wants to build a company like Microsoft he should come up with his own ideas and use a unique company name the same as Mr. Gates did when he started out.
January 20th, 2004 at 10:58 pm
I think it is better to not have a unique name but a unique product. Than to be like Microsoft and have a unique name but a product that was initially taken from another company.
January 22nd, 2004 at 5:26 am
We see the DEVIL, and it is Microsoft.
Exileddragon
livin near Mike rowe