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Going soft on Mike Rowe

A copyright is a copyright, the law is quite clear about that.

A copyright is a copyright, the law is quite clear about that. And although Victoria’s Mike Rowe – a 17-year-old who has gotten far too much media attention in the last couple of weeks – could probably make a good case for owning his own name, there’s no way any court in the world would let him keep the Web site MikeRoweSoft.com. Homonyms, words that are spelled differently but sound the same, are infringements of copyrights, too. That’s why you don’t see Seers department stores, Nyke shoes, or Koka Kola on the market anywhere.

(Actually, I did see some Noke shoes at a flea market in Turkey once, but I doubt Nike would have cared about that.)

While all can agree that copyrights have a right to be protected, there’s no question that Microsoft was a little over-zealous in their defense of the company moniker. They sent Mike Rowe a 25-page letter threatening legal action if he didn’t shut the site down. When Rowe suggested he be compensated for the loss of his Web address, Microsoft said it would only pay the 17-year-old the cost of registering his site. Rowe estimated that the site was worth about $10,000. Microsoft offered $10.

Word got out that a teenager was standing up to Microsoft and it quickly became clear just how many enemies Bill Gates’ company has made over the years. When MikeRoweSoft.com couldn’t handle the amount of traffic it was getting, companies and individuals stepped forward to host the site for free. Others offered to cover Rowe’s legal costs, encouraging him to take on Microsoft in court. Still others threw a little business Rowe’s way, paying him to develop their Web sites.

Everywhere in the media the pundits were appalled by the way the biggest software company and richest man in the world were going after a plucky young entrepreneur who did something clever with his name.

So Microsoft backed down. The public relations side of the business, which should have been called in before the lawyers in the first place, admitted the company was a little overzealous.

One company spokesperson commented "We take our trademark seriously, but in this case maybe a little too seriously. That said, we appreciate that Mike Rowe is a young entrepreneur who came up with a creative domain name."

Last week Mike Rowe and Microsoft came to an agreement.

Microsoft said it would cover Mike’s cost of registering a new site, and would redirect traffic from the old site. Microsoft also agreed to pay for Microsoft Certification Training, gave Rowe an Xbox game console, and invited Rowe to company headquarters in Redmond, Washington for their March technology festival.

Both sides were happy with the settlement.

As of press time CrowSoft (www.crowsoft.net), Crow Soft (www.crowsoft.co.uk), Migrosoft (www.migrosoft.com), Mycrosoft (www.dread.net/~striker/ms/), and other Microsoft variations were still online, and, as far as I could tell, being left alone.

Files extensions to watch out for

This month’s PC World magazine (www.pcworld.com) has put together a basic guide of file extensions for Windows users to help people identify possible viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware applications before you do something stupid, like try to open them as e-mail attachments.

The thousands of people who mistakenly opened the emails with "Hello" and "Test" in the subject lines this past week, spreading the Mydoom virus, should have known better.

Although some viruses and hackers take advantage of hidden flaws in software to break in, the vast majority of Internet security issues have more to do with the users themselves, and the sad reality that they don’t really know what they’re doing. Knowing the difference between a picture of Anna Kournikova and a program that will take over your machine is a good start. It all comes down to extensions. There are dozens of file types used by Windows, and all of them are used for different things. It’s important for security. And if you’re one of those people who like to explore and tinker with your systems, this list of extensions could also stop you from deleting something you need.

The first thing you need to be able to do is to see extensions. Open your Windows Explorer, or any folder window, and select View, then Folder Options. Once you’re in, make sure the box that indicates whether or not you would like to hide extensions is unchecked.

The basics:

If an e-mail attachment is followed by the .exe, .com, .bat or .cmd extension, then you’re looking at an executable file or batch executable file. Call or write the sender and ask them personally to vouch for the file before you even think of opening it. Executables are essentially action files that could contain malicious code that could damage your files, take over programs, or implant a virus or worm.

You should also look out for .ws, .wsc, .wsf (Windows Script Host) files, Javascript .js files and Visual Basic .vb, .vbe or .vbs files. These extensions will run scripts automatically when selected, and could do some damage to your system.

Extensions that launch any Windows service should also be avoided. That includes .pif’s, .mis’s, .hta’s and .scr application files.

It’s not on the PC World list, but you should also be careful of .zip files, which are essentially compressed files. Uncompressing .zip files can also automatically start up the program files contained inside.

If an uninvited icon mysteriously appears in your Control Panel after visiting a Web site, checking an e-mail or using a program, then open your search window and type in *.cpl. The search engine will find all the .cpl files on your computer. Double-click on each one to find the culprit, and move it to another folder.

The PC World article goes into far more detail, including information on how to customize, edit or locate program files and registry files. Visit the Web site for a complete lowdown on Windows extensions.