What do you think about Mr. Rowe?

So what do you think of Mr. Rowe? Mike Rowe is a high school student and part time web designer from Victoria, BC. He decided to register a domain name – something catchy, memorable, and uniquely “him”. So what do you think he chose?

That’s right, mikerowesoft.com. Pretty clever, huh? Well, Microsoft didn’t think so. They said it was a copyright infringement, and demanded that he give up the domain name (so that they could have it, of course). But, Mike protested, this is my business! I’ve put a lot of work into this! Generously, Microsoft offered to compensate him. They offered him US$10.

Mike was a little put out. C’mon – this domain is worth at least $10,000! Now Microsoft was even more put out, and Mike got a 25 page letter in response, and no money.

So what do you think? I see Microsoft’s point, but after all, the man’s name is Mike Rowe. And who made the decision to offer him $10? What’s with that? Visit Mike’s site (if it’s still surviving the legal fight) here: www.mikerowesoft.com, or see the latest news on Google news.