Microsoft Says Microsoft-Sony.com & Sony-Microsoft.com Domains Just a "Defensive Domain Hold"

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The discovery of Microsoft’s purchase of the Microsoft-Sony.com and other similar domains, speculations ran through the rumor mill on the possible implications. Now Microsoft has clarified that it was just a defensive move.

The rumors on Microsoft’s domain acqusitions had varied. Was Microsoft acquiring Sony? Was Sony acquiring Microsoft? Were Sony and Microsoft getting into a merger, or at least a joint venture? Considering that the two are big competitors against each other — with the Microsoft Xbox platform and Sony’s PlayStation — a partnership might, indeed, be interesting.

But corporate VP Microsoft’s Frank X. Shaw provided some clarification in a short tweet over the weekend.

re: sony/ms domain names: Sony = great MS partner. No scoop here, this was just a defensive domain hold. Let’s move on to weekend, kay? :)

So if the purchase was just a “defensive domain hold,” it could mean, at face value, that Microsoft is just trying to grab a handful of domains so that the domain squatters and domainers won’t be able to do it first, and potentially profit from popular keywords. But if they’re “defensively” holding a domain, then it means there might be something to it, if not soon, then at least at some point in the future. After all, a Sony and Microsoft partnership, would enable the two companies to focus on their respective strengths in various markets. In the gaming industry, for instance, Sony could focus on hardware and content, while Microsoft could focus on their online service and software. Or, a partnership might get Microsoft better access to Sony Ericsson, which can be a big boost to the Windows Phone platform.

With Shaw’s statement that there’s “no scoop,” is Microsoft’s domain acquisition just a move consistent with Microsoft’s own policy of heavily guarding any domain that’s Microsoft-related? Or is there something bigger in store for gamers and smartphone users?