Microsoft threatened to sue a high school
student named Mike Rowe for registering MikeRoweSoft.com. It claimed
that it was copyright infringement because it sounded phonetically
the same as Microsoft. The student was a part-time web designer and
thought it would be funny to add Soft at the end of his name.
When Microsoft found out about the domain, it asked him to give up
the domain and offered to give him $10 to cover the registration
expenses. He counter offered with $10,000, because he was upset at
Microsoft's offer. Microsoft accused him of being a cybersquatter.
The case resulted in a PR loss for Microsoft, as the media portrayed
it negatively. In the end, Microsoft flew Mike to its headquarters,
gave him training as a developer, and an Xbox in exchange for the
domain.