E-mail users inundated with unsolicited "spam" messages
have reason to hope Microsoft Corp. will develop better tools for tackling
the problem: Bill Gates (news - web sites) is suffering more than anyone.

　　Gates, Microsoft's chairman, gets 4 million e-mails a day and is
probably the most "spammed" person in the world, his Chief
Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said Thursday.

　　However, only a few junk e-mails gets through to Gates's inbox
thanks to anti-spam technology that filters his messages, Ballmer said at
a Microsoft event in Singapore.

　　Spam e-mails touting everything from aphrodisiacs to home loans
are believed to account for over 80 percent of Internet traffic.