Don’t mess with Microsoft! That’s the lesson that high school student Mike Rowe learned after tangling with the ginormous corporation. Back in ’03, Rowe had a part-time web design business, and created the domain name mikerowesoft.com, based on his name (of course), and adding the “soft” at the end to create a phonetic pun. Little did he know that he was messing with a giant.
Microsoft learned about the website and sued Rowe for copyright infringement, demanding that he give up rights to the site. Rowe demanded compensation for giving the domain name to Microsoft, and they offered him $10…yes, TEN BUCKS, the original cost of registering the domain name. He was understandably offended at the offer and asked for $10,000. Microsoft declined and sent him a cease and desist letter, accusing Rowe of cybersquatting, a practice which forces large corporations into giving financial settlements.
In the end, Rowe gave up the rights to his domain name, and Microsoft compensated him with: a subscription to Microsoft Developer Network, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, training for Microsoft certification, and an Xbox with a nice selection of games. Oh, and by the way…save yourself a couple of seconds and don’t bother going to www.mikerowesoft.com. It’ll just take you to the Microsoft.com website. Not like we already tried it or anything…