Microsoft stuck with Mikerowesoft mess

TalkBack 50 of 60:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

parody, redux.

Mr. Rowe was not using his web site as an agent of the press, providing parody or any other protected free-speech; he was using his domain for commercial purposes. A domain name *by itself* cannot prove intent; the site content is used as the judging factor, and in this case, the domain holder's own statements, posted as content on said site, also go against your argument that he was attempting to provide parody and nothing else.

The only reason anyone thinks "mikerowesoft" is clever (and thus the reason he chose the name, as he states on his web site) was because of the similarity in sound to "microsoft". Let's face it, it's not such a great company name otherwise. So, legally, he is infringing (however so slightly) on MS's name to support his own commercial enterprise, and that is why there is a viable legal issue here.

This is the precedent that was set in the Nissan Motor Corporation vs. Nissan Computer Corporation; Mr. Nissan got to keep his domain, but he was not allowed to use it for any commercial purpose. Therefore, he COULD legitimately use it for parody or other non-commercial uses if he chose to do so, within the guidelines laid out by the court. The comparison to the Nissan case is much more relevant than the comparison of the Fox News lawsuit against Al Franken; ignorning the fact that the phrase "fair and balanced" is much harder to defend as a trademarkable slogan than the word "Microsoft", both the title and content of Mr. Franken's book were obviously meant to parody his opponents in the press. Fox never really had a viable case, and their lawsuit only served to bolster Mr. Franken's booksales due to the press generated. Microsoft actually does have a viable case, but their lawsuit has done the same for Mr. Rowe.

The primary difference in people's reactions to this case versus the Nissan case and the huge amount of publicity generated is that many people have extremely strong negative feelings regarding Microsoft, while the same is most likely not true in regards to Nissan Motor. You may not like their cars, but you are unlikely to be extremely vocal about it; the same is not true for Microsoft. Many will vocally and rabidly attack Microsoft on any point, regardless of the validity, justifying it based on past sins, real or otherwise. This is coupled with the fact that the defendant in question is 17 years old in this case, while Mr. Nissan was much older, so we instinctively find ourselves aghast at how a large corporation is "treating" a child.

Mr. Rowe is likely to find himself in a similar situation to Mr. Nissan if he pursues this to the ultimate end, but, having generated huge amounts of free press, he will likely reach some sort of settlement with Microsoft and this will all fade away.

Posted by: pschroeder@...   Posted on: 01/21/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now
• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Iinfrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now
• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Infrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now