teen taunts titan

This isn’t new and but it’s still steamin’: 17 year old Mike Rowe is being sued by Microsoft for copyright infringement for using the domain name http://www.mikerowesoft.com. Mike knew what he was doing, but he still gets full points from me.

“All along I have just wanted to prove a point that the small guy can win against the giant corporations. Hopefully people will stick up to what they think is right even if someone bigger than you is behind it.”

When Microsoft offered Mike $10US for the domain name, he asked for a $1000US (to compensate for his substantial investment in building the business site). Microsoft countered with a 25 page letter accusing him of copyright infringement. But Mike isn’t backing down.

The bad press is already flying, so I think this one will be settled without much more fuss. But it’s certainly made Mike a popular guy – he’s had to switch hosting services to handle the traffic on his site, he’s been on CNN and CBC radio.

Another blip in the battle of brands.