Micro$oft sues 17 year old kid for being named "Mike Rowe".....

Read the story before. Microsoft offered him $10 for his domain, he asked for $10,000. Betcha they settle for something in the middle.

Bet the site 'SoftMac' isn't worth much...

FUZZY! lol


/me pulls Hershey Kisses from pockets and holds hands full out to Fuzzy... grindage

Well, the kid IS in the wrong on this.
He intentionally did it as a joke he quotes in the article.

Fuzzy that didn't make much sense at all...but I'm sure no one at Apple would care...it's the M$ losers that give a damn

then why is it at a mac site?

Microsoft won't have a problem 'winning' that one...it's a no-brainer...

M$ losers

Getting yet more tedious.

M$ losers Getting yet more tedious.

yep

Jafo and Koasati, what I meant by that was people who make the decisions to take legal action. Can you seriously tell me that Microsoft isn't going a little overboard here? I mean, they act like they own the world. This reminds me of when McDonalds sued a woman in Scotland for openeing a restaurant called McDougal's... it's a shame...

and Travis, no one WORKING at apple would care. They wouldn't care enough to sue if someone made a site called apples.com or App-please.com or something that only SOUNDS LIKE apple.
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no one WORKING at apple would care. They wouldn't care enough to sue if someone made a site called apples.com or App-please.com or something that only SOUNDS LIKE apple.

Try it sometime.  Apple is quite protective of its trade name and logo.  Anyone with a history in skinning can attest to that...

He'll get a fair amount of money out of it..now that the story has gone public. Which I'm sure that's what Mr. Rowe had in mind all along.

Which I'm sure that's what Mr. Rowe had in mind all along.

Sounds like that's what MS thinks.

logos are one thing, Jafo, but something that sound likes something else isn't anything a self-respecting company should complain about.

He'll get a fair amount of money out of it..now that the story has gone public. Which I'm sure that's what Mr. Rowe had in mind all along.

I agree, I'm sure $10,000 wouldn't be too hard to get.

but something that sound likes something else isn't anything a self-respecting company should complain about.

Happens all the time. Self preservation is more appropriate than self-respecting.

I remember a story about a member of The Rolling Stones suing a sports writer for writing his articles under his own name which happened to be the same as the rocker's name. They wanted this sports guy to print a notice with each article saying that he is not a member of The Rolling Stones and has nothing to do with the band. I would hate if someone with the same exact name as me gets famous then tries to stop me from using my own name publicly.

I feel that the 17-year old kid in the mikerowesoft.com case is in the wrong. I am not sure if Microsoft's actions are a little extreme or not, but either way Mr. Rowe brought it upon himself.



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I don't feel any sympathy for the kid, although I do hope Microsoft doesn't try to sue him out of house and home. After all, he's just a kid who needs some humility.

macrobaye - your mac rants or threads pertaining to macs or you mentioning macs is really begining to piss me off.
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I just looked at mikerowesoft.com. Not only did this guy rip off Microsoft's name, but his real name is not Mike Rowe. In "about me" he says that he is Roy.

email that info to Microsoft piracy department Tech.

heh I'm sure "Microsoft" knows that already, Kona

probably.

dumb kid

I think it cheapens corporate entities when they acknowledge crap like this and 'Microsoftsux.com' and the like. I can understand pursuing misspellings routed to pr0n sites and such, but acting threatened by stuff like this just makes you look paranoid or bullyish. No one is gonna type 'mikerowesoft.com' by accident, and it most certainly isn't gonna cause brand confusion.

It is one thing to address fraud, and another to squash perceived dissent. I'm not saying they won't win, I'm just saying it should be beneath them to address it.



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