At issue was the fact that Zamos acquired Microsoft software at a discount for academic use, then re-sold it to the general public on eBay for a profit.
Zamos contends, and can document, that he found the software unsuitable when he realized it required him to format his computer's hard drive.
When both of these attempted returns were denied, Zamos put the software up for sale on eBay in two auctions, the second of which was cancelled at Microsoft's request.
In it he pointed out that Microsoft's claim did not represent the facts of his case, and appeared to be a boilerplate suit like thousands of others the company has filed.
Microsoft refused this, and Zamos wrote a brief press release to the Akron Beacon Journal, which published the item on March 7, 2005.