Microsoft Corporation vs MikeRoweSoft
 

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news...4-7077040C8071

Considering his name is Mike Rowe, he is perfectly entitled to the domain. Perhaps if his name was *not* Mike Rowe, then there might be a case to answer for cyber-squatting etc...

DAMN YOU! I was just about to post this.
[edit] But yeah. Total bullshit. [/edit]

DAMNIT! i was too....

I think it's totally wrong. I mean, it's not the guy's fault that it happens to be his name.

yeah but he is using the fact that if he puts the name together and adds the soft it siunds like microsoft ...may not agree myself and wouldn't see a problem but I'd say he is intending the similarity ..I mean why use the soft? his name iss mike rowe not mike rowe soft ...so it is his intention of use rather than his actual name that they are complaining on.

Trying to pull a swinger if you ask me...

~ :)

I think he is entitled to the domain. His business is not hurting Microsoft in any way and nobody could confuse Microsoft and MikeRoweSoft.

Except people trying to explain it with speech impediments.

I meant the companies themselves, not the pronunciation of their names. A visitor to mikerowesoft.com would not be there because he/she is looking for a Microsoft product.

His names Mike Rowe, he will likely one day develop software and is currently into web design. Mike Rowe, Software, he has every right to MikeRoweSoft. If it's his bussness, then isn't MikeRoweSoft already a legal entity on it's own?

I would just like to say that this is purely ridiculous regardless of WHAT you believe you in.

More importantly I don't like looking an idiot when ppl put BREAKING NEWS in the GENERAL discussion thread. *grumbles*:cry:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....hreadid=165689

good point, didn't think copyrights were phoenetic like that can you say : hukt on kopyrites?

i think they are. same reason you can't make a logo identical to the coke one, and just change the name... or - more appropriately - can't start selling "Koka Kola"...

id think it would be alittle different from that zootm.

its the guys name!

it's an intentional play on words. he knew very well microsoft would come after him if he did it, and he probably did it intentionally to see if he could milk ms for it.

microsoft wouldnt have gone after him if it wasnt a valid case. they have the best lawyers in the world.

hmm...someone's going to hell and it sure isn't Mike!!

We discussed this subject this afternoon in History Class when we started talking about current news and I brought this up. Basically I agree with MS on this. The kid could have just created the site Mike Rowe and left it at that. There is no need for him to have MikeRoweSoft. Indeed he might create software that would then make it then Mike Rowe's Software. If he made the domain www.mikerowe.com and I was looking for software Mike Rowe has created, I would not type in www.mikerowesoft.com to look for it. It was done on purpose and I believe he has no right to that domain.

[edit]
Has anyone looked at his site? He has already set up a pay pal account to get funds to help 'pay' for his lawyer. I personally think that he made such a big deal out of it to get his name out
[/edit]

the company is mi-cro... the guy's name is mike rowe... they are pronounced differently

either way, it seems pretty obvious that guy didn't register that domain name with the intentions of keeping it (rather making a quick buck selling MS a worthless domain name (prolly expecting to lose it and gain a decent settlement/compensation ) )
but even still it should remain his (doubt it will), but he should be allowed to keep it, now if he makes his own linux distribution and sells it there it becomes quite a lot more questionable

Just barely. Say it fast and it's exactly the same.

"Mic row soft"

Anyway, since mikerowesoft.com is actually a site for buisness work, Microsoft doesn't really have a case. It's the guy's name, and his buisness is associated with the site "mikerowsoft.com". I don't think he's trying to make a quick buck, anyway.

I like it how microsoft offered him $10!

I dont think you can copyright phonetics.and its the guys name for gods sake.

Microsoft has a right to protect it's intellectual property - which includes the pronunciation of their name.

If Mike Rowe Soft was the big monopoly and Microsoft was the competitor, likewise, Mike Rowe could take action against Micro.

Mike Rowe has many many alternatives - Rowe Soft, Mike Soft, or any other name. Bill Gates didn't name his company Billgatesoft, after all.

SINCE microsoft IS the big monopoly and there was such a big mess about it....


.....why let them grow even bigger by assimilating every domain name that sounds like the company's name???

I just read in my newspaper today, that Microsoft has stepped down in this case. Stating "that we take our brand very serious, but in this case we might have taken it a bit too serious" (translated from english to danish and back again)

/edit: here is the reuters article



- Stefan

"We appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name, so we're currently in the process of resolving this matter in a way that will be fair to him and satisfy our obligations under trademark law," Desler said.

Rowe is demanding $10,000 from Microsoft to change the site's name.

kinda hard to tell doesn't quite look like they've stepped down exactly, but realised they don't rule the world cuz of the size of their bank accounts



BTW, knew it! knew it!! knew it!!! looks like mike rowe was planning on loosin the site for a big fat paycheck

Seems that Microsoft has decided to settle with him... :o

All that because his name is Mike Rowe.. Now if Some software monopoly's name would sound like mine :)

That doesn't prove anything. If someone asked to buy your house that you didn't want to sell, and told them they could have it for $1,000,000, that wouldn't prove you bought it to make $1,000,000.

if you really didn't want to sell it, then you wouldn't make the offer, would you?

I would, as a joke. I would have said, "Sure, I'll trade you. You get http://www.mikerowesoft.com, I get http://www.microsoft.com. Deal?"

Personnaly, in my head, I keep pronouncing it 'Mike Raw Soft', because of the e in rowe.

I'd sell a lot of things for $1,000,000 that I wouldn't sell normally. Take, for instance, one of my hard drives. If someone asked to buy it, I'd give them a price far higher than retail value.

yes, but you said in your example a house, which would normally go for around 1 million dollars, but would you also sell the rights to all of the stuff you own on those harddrives, all those man hours on OS custumization, wallpapers, website projects, etc?

Yeah, and if you're selling the domain name, you're also selling the advertising and name. If "mikerowsoft.com" has been printed on all the buisness cards you've been giving out for the last year, you probably don't want to give it up, do you? But you probably would if the price was high enough.

I still think he wanted to screw MS. I mean why couldn't he have gotten MikeRoweDesigns.com or the like? Now, his new address it MikeRoweForums.com and it is just a new page/forums not anything to do with his business. And the timing of when he purchased the Domain. He was asking for it.

-Duane

If I was him, I'd buy mikerowesoft.net, org, us, and any other domainas he can. He'll make a fortune :)

The article clearly states his intentions.

Ho ho ho, had my laugh of the day, when i rememered this story, and decided to check out on the outcome...


well, you gotta apriciate the irony, mikerowesoft has now partnered up with Mandrake Linux....

hehe

well i think it's funny

NEXT CASE PLEASE
 

well, your honor, next case is....

Google versus Booble