A Canadian teenager who fought Microsoft Corp over his Internet domain name has sold documents and e-mails relating to the feud on eBay for C$1,386.83 (US$1,040).
Mike Rowe, 17, who lives in Victoria, British Columbia, had registered the domain name mikerowesoft.com to host his budding Web development business but quickly found himself the target of Microsoft lawyers who threatened to sue him over alleged copyright infringement.
He made international headlines when he refused to give up the domain name, turning down an initial offer from Microsoft of US$10 to cover the cost of registering the Internet address, but eventually settled for expenses incurred, free Microsoft certification training and an X-box video game system.
Microsoft also agreed to direct any traffic to his new Web site, mikeroweforums.com, and invited him to visit the company's Redmond, Washington campus.
Bids for a 25-page letter from Microsoft lawyers, an inch-thick book outlining their case to the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva and e-mails between Rowe and lawyers had reached as much as C$120,000 during the 10-day online auction, but those were dismissed as bogus.
"This is your chance to own a piece of Internet history," Rowe wrote in his eBay sales pitch. "This is the book shown on TV, Internet, magazines and talked about on the radio and seen by millions of people worldwide."
The winning bidder is known only as buyandsellyams.
In local newspapers, the teenager said he chose the domain name as a lark and never meant to embarrass Microsoft, which he thinks is a "great company." His father is just happy the dispute is over and Rowe can now focus on his studies.
For its part, Microsoft admitted it may have been a bit hard on the teen.
"We take our trademark seriously, but in this case, maybe a little too seriously," a Microsoft spokesman said. "Mike Rowe is a bright young man with great potential. We are pleased to work things out in a way that will help foster his interest in technology."
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