January 2004, it was revealed that the two parties had come to an out-of-court settlement, with Microsoft taking control of the domain. In return Microsoft agreed to pay all of the expenses that Rowe had incurred, including setting up a new site at and redirecting traffic to MikeRoweforums.com, a website now defunct. Additionally, Microsoft provided Rowe with a subscription to the Microsoft Developer Network, an all-expenses-paid trip for him and his family to the Microsoft Research Tech Fest at their headquarters in Redmond, Washington, training for Microsoft certification and an Xbox with a selection of games. Following an online poll, Rowe donated most of his legal defense fund to a children's hospital and used the remaining money for his future university education. Further developments After settling the dispute with Microsoft, Rowe attempted to auction off the documentation he had received on the on-line auction site eBay, describing it as "a piece of Internet history". The materials included one copy of the original 25-page cease and desist letter, as well as an inch-thick WIPO book containing copies of trademarks, web pages and e-mails between him and Microsoft. The auction received more than half a million page views and bidding rose to more than $200,000. The high bids turned out to be fraudulent, and the auction was restricted to pre-approved bidders. After restarting from the reserve price of $500, the documents eventually sold for $1,037. Microsoft later admitted that they may have been too aggressive in their defense of the "Microsoft" trademark. Following the case, it was suggested by Struan Robertson – editor of Out-Law.com – that Microsoft had little choice but to pursue the issue once it had come to light, or they would have risked weakening their trademark. This view was also espoused by ZDNet, who noted that had Microsoft knowingly ignored Rowe's site, the company would have risked losing the right to fight future trademark infringements. Robertson opined thathad legal proceedings ensuedRowe would have made a strong argument for keeping his domain, as he was using his real name and was not claiming to be affiliated with Microsoft. See also Microsoft Corp. v. Shah Nissan Motors v. Nissan Computer Streisand effect References External links Microsoft.com MikeRoweSoft.com – it now redirects to Microsoft.com. Reddit.com - AMA with Mike Rowe on r/IAmA United States trademark case law Microsoft litigation 2004 in United States case law 2004 in Canada