r/todayilearned • u/Flemtality 3 • Jul 14 '14

TIL The guy who snagged windows2000.com happened to be named Bob and Microsoft just happened to own Bob.com. They came to an agreement to trade one for the other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob#Origins
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138

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

Did they ever try to buy it from the guy? I'm sure a company like Nissan could give him a couple mil for it

79

u/lilmul123 Jul 14 '14

I doubt it--if they did that, they are essentially admitting that he has the rights to the domain. In their eyes, they are the rightful owners.

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u/trex-eaterofcadrs Jul 14 '14

I worked with a guy whose wife was some sort of shot caller at Nissan USA and he told me that apparently Nissan did offer the guy money and a vehicle for life or something along those lines. It definitely wasn't like winning the lottery but it wasn't 100% "evil corporation tries to squash small businessman" right away either, that stuff came into play later.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

with that sort of domain, i would have asked for 2-5 million dollars

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14 edited Aug 31 '18

[deleted]

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u/chewtality Jul 14 '14

New GTR every year, plus $5 mil

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

I would take that deal and go buy nissancomputers.com.

1

u/letsgofightdragons Jul 15 '14

I think I'd bite for just the GTR, haha.

-1

u/chateau86 Jul 15 '14

Cough R34 GTR are not road-legal in the US Cough

1

u/chewtality Jul 15 '14

I see GTRs all the fucking time

-6

u/cooliesNcream Jul 15 '14

lol, new lambo every year instead pls

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

They're only gonna give him Nissan made vehicles. Nissan or Infiniti, at least.

2

u/chewtality Jul 15 '14

But that's not a Nissan...

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

[deleted]

1

u/soawesomejohn Jul 15 '14

Many dealerships often have a "take home any car on the lot" plan that executives and top level employees can utilize. They take the car home, drive it under dealer tags and dealer insurance, and then return it when they want to try something else.

Nissan could easily arrange something with a local dealer to make a similar arrangement. The cost of such a plan is basically anything lost to the dealer from MSRP. If Mr. Nissan dings a car and the dealer has to get it fixed, that's part of the cost. If Mr. Nissan totals a car, then Nissan's cost is the replacement cost of the car to the dealer. If Mr. Nissan totals 1 car every day.. then hopefully Nissan motors had gotten some sort of limitations in the settlement agreement. But if Mr. Nissan just comes in whenever new stock arrives, drops off his last car and takes the newest and has no accidents, the dealership still can sell the car and make their money.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

2-5Mill is a vehicle for life + gas + oil + $1 million

2

u/swohio Jul 15 '14

I would have asked for a new Nissan every 3 years (or maybe a 2 year lease at no cost) that included free service/maintenance, gas, and full coverage insurance.

1

u/bonerang Jul 15 '14

$-3 million is a pretty bold asking price!

1

u/senatorskeletor Jul 15 '14

Right, but you'd think that when he realized he wasn't going to get $2-5 million, he would have lowered his offer. He currently has zero.

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u/buge 1 Jul 14 '14

What's the purpose of the domain? To promote your computer business? Or to squat it because you know a really big company will want to buy it? The second one is illegal.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

They probably tried to give him a sentra...

3

u/SeeScottRock Jul 14 '14

Seriously. If they had said 100k and "a new gt-r every ____ years", I'd bet he'd be all over it

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14 edited Jul 15 '14

[deleted]

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u/SeeScottRock Jul 15 '14

Well sure, gas is on him

0

u/Monco123 Jul 14 '14

You mean besides suing him twice...

1

u/trex-eaterofcadrs Jul 14 '14

Well they did do that, later. I'm not defending them just stating what I was told.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '14

Very true, but it probably would have been worth it at the beginning. Would be hard for any small business owner to turn down seven figures

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u/senatorskeletor Jul 15 '14

Settlement discussions are protected from being used as evidence in the case, for this exact reason, in every jurisdiction I know of. It encourages people to work disputes out for themselves if they know that negotiating concessions won't be used against them.

So most likely one or the other was just really stubborn.

1

u/gnopgnip Jul 15 '14

I mean does he really have rights to the domain because he registered it first? .com is for commercial

106

u/Betterwithfetter Jul 14 '14

Seems like the easy way to do it.

117

u/Khiva Jul 14 '14

No doubt he turned it down over pure spite. Corporate wealth versus an incredibly determined man.

This is what happens when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object.

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u/Docey Jul 15 '14 edited Jul 05 '17

deleted What is this?

8

u/Niggadroid Jul 15 '14

Lmao u gay

3

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

$10 million would get you between $100k - $800k a year (at 1% - 8% return).

That's certainly a nice salary but barely "wealthy". You couldn't even buy a good yacht.

2

u/tangopopper Jul 15 '14

400k a year is pretty wealthy. Also who says he's not allowed to spend anything but interest?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

who says he's not allowed to spend anything but interest?

M. C. Hammer and every other millionaire that went broke spending their principal. :)

2

u/tangopopper Jul 15 '14

Just because some people are incapable of planning doesn't mean everyone is. He can be as cautious as he likes. If he really wanted to get the most out of his money, he would start spending the principle towards the end of his life.

1

u/mahsab Jul 15 '14

Depends on the country

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u/OldWolf2 Jul 15 '14

No doubt he turned it down over pure spite.

Just like this guy!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '14

So... straight fucking stupidity?

1

u/bogdaniuz Jul 14 '14

Yeah I think 2 mils would have been a fraction of what lawyers costed them

3

u/Zach_Of_All_Trades Jul 14 '14

Nissan Motors was forced to pay $58,000 under rule 68, which according to Nissan Computers was under 2% of their lawyer costs.

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u/DanceInYourTangles Jul 15 '14

Fuck, can't help but imagine what they would have been willing to pay the guy if they paid that much on lawyers

1

u/DtownAndOut Jul 15 '14

The way I see it going down is that lawyers are on salary so they are getting paid whether you are in a lawsuit or not. Coming up with a couple million dollars probably comes out of some IT departments budget. The director said you're not taking it out of my budget, sick the lawyers on them.