Meet Marcus Dixon. As a 6-foot-6, 265-pound linebacker for Pepperell High School, he is an exemplary example of the star athlete on the gridiron. As a young black Georgian charged with two sex crimes by a mostly white jury, he and his case have been adopted by racial activists who want to convince Americans that racism in the Deep South still exists.

Mike Rowe only wanted to create his own Web site. But this past November, the Microsoft Corporation sent an e-mail to the Canadian high school student and ordered him to close his site, MikeRoweSoft.com, which the company considers to violate Microsoft trademark rights.