Dr Joinson says some of Microsoft's most vociferous critics come from a hardcore of internet users. There is a tendency for a relatively small community to see the commercialisation of the internet as spoiling it. They see Microsoft as heralding this rise of commercialisation. The net abounds with sites attacking the Seattle-based company. Mr Greenspun juxtaposes this telephone number-sized figure with complaints about Microsoft products, Bill Gates jokes and critiques of his philanthropic activities.
Some homepages go as far as to assert Gates is Satan.
While lacking taste, such sites are irreverent rather than malignant. However, Microsoft's detractors are often moved from words to action. Microsoft's strenuous denials of any such failings seem only to encourage further attacks and greater contempt among its detractors. The hack attacks range from the recent closing down of Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail network, to the odd claim by a Welsh teenager that he had uncovered Bill Gates' credit card details. If Bill Gates is indeed a hated figure, it may be his high public profile that is to blame.