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Microsoft to sue Mike Rowe for Copyrights
An anonymous reader was among a host of submittors noting that a 17 year old named Mike Rowe has been sued by Microsoft for copyright infringment of their name.
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Ms Sasha Dot doesn't get ideas!
Michael Hunt? Richard Hertz?
Get his site listed on /.
Wait until VA Soft hears about Mr. Slas H. Dot's
Trolling is a art,
Apple sueing Fiona ?
"Honey, I feel a certain distance between us..." "Really? A 31ms ping ain't that bad..."
hotmale.com next? ;)
p.
Slashdotting that poor poor mikerowesoft.com website. That $10,000 settlement just got sucked up in bandwidth useage!
(yeah yeah, I clicked it too...the Devil made me do it.)
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
After trying the legal route, Microsoft today took a teenagers website offline by taking their case to Slashdot.
The resulting traffic accomplished what their legal papers were previously unable to do...
1. Have child.
2. Name him/her Microsoft.
3. Sell when Microsoft tries to buy it for $10.00.
4. Profit!
...if they just bought Mike Rowe a bottle of viagra.
Oh, so this is more legal-system-as-advertising-vehicle and not simply life immitating Onion?
Truly a fresh slant on 'paying the bills'.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Hey this guy had it coming. Concatenating the word 'soft' to the end of your name is a clear-cut case of trademark violation. He is clearly trying to use Microsoft's name to further his own business - most likely being a poor college student - trying to scam Microsoft's legitimate customers.
I hope they really screw him.
The article at the Register says:
"Mike told us that when an email from Microsoft's Canadian lawyers Smart & Biggar arrived on 19 November..."
IHNJH, IJFLS "Microsoft's Canadian lawyers Smart & Biggar"
-mm
charles dickens couldn't have written it better
Check out my website: blowmesmartandbiggar.com.
No... my name is not Blowme Smartandbiggar. Nor is it Blowme S. Andbiggar.
\\signed\\
Blow M. Smartandbiggar
3cx.org - A truly bad website.
Mike, a self-described computer gook, registered the name in August.
Is this a typo or have I been left behind in the newest slang update? I feel so old.
666-607: 6th floor apartment of the beast
/. just took him out for you :-)
I'm not so sure MS is doing this because of domain squatting, it could just be that it's going to cost them a lot less than $10K to take him to court. Mike should have checked on this first, for $5K the MS response might have been quite different.
At any rate, he is clearly infringing on the Microsoft trademark. Imagine if someone could call themselves "Gee Em" and start selling cars, or if a company adopted the name "Eye Bee Em" and started selling computers and consulting services.
Eric Sarjeant
eric[@]sarjeant.com
10 Canadian Dollars?!
Where can _I_ find domains for US$0.50?
From the article:
They responded to this email by offering to give me all of my out-of-pocket expenses in return for the domain name. This came out to be $10; the amount I paid for the domain. (...) I responded by asking for $10,000, which I regret doing now, for my work and domain name.
Technically, one could argue that he asked for $10.- for the domain name, and $9990.- for "his work". Just an honest 17-year-old, trying to make a living...
Wow, you actually read the article on El Reg.
Apparently they pulled this rather common scam of offering him a rediculously low amount ($10) for the domain. Then when the target flips out and says it's worth at least $xxx, they sue their asses for trying to profit off of a domain name.
I would think that the target of such a scam could defend the high value of the counteroffer in terms of the cost of rebranding (not profit). The cost of a domain name is much more than the out-of-pocket money for the registrar. Other "costs" for given up a domain name include:
1. Labor: It takes labor to change a domain name and all the materials associated with it. This include tasks such as: time spent findng a new domain name, redoing all the HTML in the site to change to a new domain; contacting all one's friends and business associates to inform them of the change; and reprinting business cards, letterhead, and marketing brochures.
2. Lost Revenues: In changing domain names (and possibly company names), some crucial business contacts become lost. When an old client tries to contact the person at their old e-mail addy, they get a bounce and figure the person is no longer available.
Although I don't know how much Mike Rowe used his domain in business, It would seem that $10k is on the low side for a true costs of a concerted rebranding effort.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
What's more expensive:
/.'ing
Bandwith bill after a
or
Legal bill for fighting Micro$oft?
Hey, and ./ has it's very own domain on
slashdot.mycrowsoft.com!
being sued by Microsoft for copyright infringment of their name...
...priceless.
"... his domain would confuse Microsoft customers."
Sounds about right. Microsoft customers (by definition) are not the brightest cookies out there. Case in point, Clippy.
Oh, man - I was wondering why this copy of MikeRoweSoft Windows was so cheap!
I would have tried to check this story out on CNN, but for some reason my genuine Magnetbox TV isn't working.
And how exactly do you know that he's not soft. Touch his belly lately??
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
...the holders of domains MyCrow.com, MyCrew.com, WhenDoes.com, WinDozens.com, MikeRose.com, and MikeRosoff.com have all hired lawyers.
Mr. Mike Rosoff of Kennebunk, Maine is especially worried, because he has received a cease-and-desist letter from Microsoft lawyers claiming that his social security card, driver's license, passport, and all items using his birth name are infringing on copyrights.
More on the story as it develops...
--Mark
__:-b
"It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
That Microsoft's lawyers sent this notice by email is also odd.
This is Microsoft's new, more efficient, form of communication and distribution. Just the other day I got a critical Service Pack update from them. I find this so much better than trying to remember to check Windows Update periodically...
Ascalante: Your bride is over 3,000 years old.
Kull: She told me she was 19!
Free range lawyers. Heard those are good eatin'! Much better than the stalled lawyers, that are all stressed and fed hormones and stuff.
Your friend Microsoft is lost in the maze of IP infringement.
Please help him to find out all the names used by evil hackers who want to steel mighty things from your friend.
Because there are so many bad boys in the world that speak strange languages,
help your little friend Microsoft to get every occurence of name spelling that can sound like his very own name.
Of course in english, our friend Law Yer has just come with the evil name : Mike Rowe Soft, so this one can not be proposed.
When you have finished this game, hand out the answer to your dad or your mom and go on to the next game.
For instance, in French
[mi | my] [c | k | que] [r] [o | au] [ss] [o | au] [ft | pht]
The world belongs to those who get up early. - I'm far from being the king of Earth then
Personally, I serously doubt that anyone could possibly get the two companies confused.
... that his domain would confuse Microsoft customers."
;)
From the article, "Microsoft... stating
Well, there you have it. It's only MS customers who'd be confused.
You want a sig? I can get you a sig... Hell, I can get you a sig by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish.
Crazy situations, but wouldn't you be looking for the Candid Camera when you get a call from Smart & Biggar that say that they represent Microsoft?
Bill Gates and company probably don't care, but they lawyers are probably personally sick of last name puns and have gone postal!
MikeHunt.com - Being sued by Moe Szyslak, owner of Moe's Tavern for prank call infringement.
HenWeigh.com - Being sued by Jenny Craig, settlement offered of $15 in McDonalds Gift Certificates
ShoBullshit.org - Next on the list for SCO for misleading location of mystery source code backed up on mothership hiding behind Venus.
MyLittleBoy.net - Sued by Michael Jackson for misleading name. Settlement reached at 100 little Sailor outfits with various sizes.
MajorWoody.us - Major Horace Woody has apparently given Woody Woodpecker a bad name. The Pecker and Woody are working out a deal out of court however.
FamilyLove.net - Pending legislation by the State of Arkansas's Singles site, FamilyLovers.net.
SlashingDot.org - In close contact with Cowboy Neal as geeks to not want to be confused with a "News for Serial Killers" site.
gaggle.com - Upsetting google.com, but google is unwilling to start gang warfare as drive by DoSes sometimes comprimise innocent networks.
DeathRow.us - Death row inmates suing for misrepresentation of convicted criminals actually on Death Row.
Garbage.com - Also being sued by Microsoft for copyright infringement of copyright. Alleges that this name is a common slang for their products in knowledgable circles.
-1 Overrated (Too many big words for me to comprehend)
Care to explain how he's "clearly infringing" anything? The phonetic similarities are incidental. In my accent, I first pronounced his domain as 'mike.rowe.soft.dot.com' whereas I pronounce Microsoft's as 'microsoft.dot.com'. The phonetic similarities wouldn't even be close enough to confuse mediocre speech recognition unless you're a mushmouth, although the tool likely wouldn't recognize the spelling for Mike's site anyway.
As for similarities in the way they're spelled, the only thing the two domains share is 'soft' and '.com'. If somebody is so abysmally stupid that they could misspell microsoft as mikerowesoft, they probably aren't smart enough to by typing on their own anyway.
This is no different than the Nissan car company abusing Uzi Nissan because of his name. Corporate abuse of power, plain and simple. Am I jumping to conclusions? You betcha. But, maybe before somebody flames me for it, they ought to stop and consider why I'd automatically assume that a big corporate would be abusing it's power in this situation. I don't suppose I've come to expect that from these companies based on their past actions, right? Noooooo.... they're just good little capitalists struggling to earn a living like the rest of us. They would NEVER play the courts or stomp helpless individuals over make-believe issues like this. Uh uh. Obviously, Mr. Rowe is a bad, horrible, stinking, dirty, godless commie and Microsoft is doing its Patriotic Duty (TM) in stomping the shit out of him.
OK... that sarcasm seemed to cross into something else entirely...
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
1. use real name
2. put dot com after it
3. sued by big corporation
4. ???????
5. profit
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
omfG, is that really the name of their law firm??
Well, I guess I can see how they got Biggar: by racking up the billable hours presenting 25-page cases against 17-year-old students.
I guess they're pretty Smart if they can get Microsoft to pay them for it.
Maybe SCO should talk to these guys, it looks lately like their law firm, Small & Dummar, isn't getting the job done...
This Like That - fun with words!
That right! If the stupid Canadian education system had done its job and made Mr Rowe a legal expert on the subject of domain disputes, none of this would have happened.
Silly student, domains are for large corporations!
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
*POP* A new subpeona has been downloaded and is ready to be delivered to you. Please click here to review it and print it out.
Did you ever notice that *nix doesn't even cover Linux?
Microsoft should not stop here...
They should demand that
1) Mr. Mike Row should change his name.
2) Mr. Mike Row should be banned to any education and uccupation related to "soft" activities.
3) Microsoft should get a UN resolution passed, that no human should in the future be named, which might resemble to the name of the greatest corporation of the entire universe.
Or Jill Yates might just simply go fuck h**self.
and this paniciky old woman comes up to the desk practically in tears.
This "old woman" can disavow with words her secret desires, but her fingers knows what she really wants. On one level she wanted to check her email but deep down she really wants an emale . . . ; )
I've got the domain www.uglysoft.com. I think they have more reason to sue me, I think. Heh.
Am I the only person in the US who does NOT have a lawyer?
So they found someone who found a clever name for their site. Any smart company aware of such things as goodwill and public image would then offer say to take over the domain name and offer a nice settlement so the site can be rebranded. Perhaps if you are american you try to figure out if it is a domain-squatter or if there is a legit site there. Maybe Microsoft doesn't have any way to visit websites. I advice them to install mozilla.
What you do not due is sent the lawyers after some kid. Rule 1 of running a shop. Do not kick the kids of your customers. It is basic lesson but that american companies just can't seem to learn.
To those who going to quote law you are so wrong. Even a million dollar settlement would be peanuts compared to the bad publicity. If this gets picked up then MS will have spend many times more in advertising.
Something similar happened here where a little girl in holland owned a fansite dedicated to harry potter. When the first movie was about to come out she got a letter from the studio claiming she was infringing and she had to hand the site over. Que it being reported on the news and the studio having to backpeddle so fast it wasn't even funny anymore.
Oh well. Americans eh.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I own a company called "Bill G Eats". Can I join in?!!?
There goes my software company which specializes in crows .. My Crow Soft.
Redmond is worried people will enter Microsoft into Google and get Did you mean: Mike Roe Soft
McDonald's has tried the same stunt. They sued a Scottish cafe owner by the name of McDonald for trademark infringement.
They lost. They also garnered more bad PR than all the PETA types that have gone up against them could have ever hoped for.
Mike could win big if he hung in there.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
I wonder what microsoft would do if he became a Lindows reseller.
Maybe that's who the anonymous submitter is...
/. - it'll be gone in two hours."
"Hey Bill, we can't get this site shut down legally."
"Eh... I'll send it to
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.