(Article Central) Software giant Microsoft is reportedly preparing legal action against a Canadian teenager with a Web site whose name sounds very similar to Microsoft's.
British Columbia high school student Mike Rowe chose the Web site address mikerowesoft.com to host his Web site design company, considering the name an amusing play on words. According to Vancouver newspaper reports, however, Rowe was contacted by Microsoft's attorneys and asked to give up the domain.
Rowe wrote to the company, asking to be compensated for the domain, and was contacted again by Microsoft's lawyers, who offered him $10 US. He wrote back, asking for $10,000.
Last week, Rowe received a 25-page letter from the company accusing him of trying to force Microsoft into giving him a large settlement. He says he didn't want to get anything out of the company, but was sort of upset by the particularly low offer.
Rowe is reportedly holding his ground, and says a lawyer has offered to advise him for free.
Microsoft says it has been working to reach an agreeable resolution with Rowe and remains hopeful that the matter can be resolved in good faith.
The kid got an XBOX and some other goodies out of the deal, which was probably his plan all along. This is one of those things I wish I had thought of first.
The kid got an XBOX and some other goodies out of the deal, which was probably his plan all along. This is one of those things I wish I had thought of first.
I would have loved to listened to that negotiation.
MR: I want $10,000, and I won't settle for a penny less! MS: Okay, how about an XBOX and the GTA Dual Pack MR: SOLD!
Kind of reminds me of when Kramer settled for "coffee for life".
He was on The Screen Savers last night on Tech TV-he listed all of the items he got from Micro$oft (a trip to REDMOND-OOOOH). When asked if he was going to hack his XBox, he said joking that yeah, he'd put Linux on it. Har.
"It's the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond because that is what being a [man] is." -Jack Davenport, Coupling
Had it a couple years ago, Zed - when I was 51 - mine was caught early, but quite painful and annoying for a couple of weeks. It wasn't all gone off me (mine was on my chest) for about a month even after the shot and the steroids.