4 ms·
Hah, I remember this. Talk about a missed opportunity. I’m glad an attorney picked up the scent here and offered pro bono services but they should have pressed
by SlightlyLeftPad 3y ago
Hah, I remember this. Talk about a missed opportunity. I’m glad an attorney picked up the scent here and offered pro bono services but they should have pressed way harder because it seems Microsoft’s argument was pretty weak. The fact that Microsoft ended up compensating anything at all, shows that all they really wanted was the domain which would have probably been worth enough to be set for life and still be able to donate to charity.
- georgemcbay 3y agoI find it hard to believe anyone at Microsoft really cared about his domain name since its unlikely to have ever caused actual confusion and thus don't really see why they would have paid him any significant amount of money for it. AFAICT Microsoft simply had a relationship with a Canadian law firm who was effectively the IP equivalent of an ambulance chaser to pad their billable hours and they went after the kid. I kinda doubt anyone important at Microsoft was even really aware of the situation until the easy-to-sell David v Goliath news story about it went viral.
- SlightlyLeftPad 3y agoYeah you’re right, that’s much more plausible and all the more comical too.
- aragonite 3y agoReminds me of this story about all the ridiculous .NYC domains Mike Bloomberg's lawyers defensively registered, and how even Bloomberg's representative was caught off guard ("It's news to us. This appears to be overly-aggressive legal due diligence, and we're only keeping the straightforward addresses") https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-bloomberg-nyc-domain-fail_n_6101416/amp https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-bloomberg-nyc-domain-...