The turmoil that exists within Bill. As head of the Gates Foundation, his role is to help the developing world prosper, using technology, vaccines and infrastructure building. As chairman of Microsoft he is on a crusade against piracy, otherwise known as free software, the engine that is creating some actual vibrant economies in Eastern Europe.

This was all laid out to him in an embarrassing press conference with the president of Romania (which we joked about here). Now another embarrassing moment for Bill. None less than Mikail Gorbachev is asking him to intercede in the sentencing of a Russian Windows pirate. BBC reports.

Mr Gorbachev's letter, on the website run by his charitable foundation, said "many people in Russia regard this scandalous case as trumped-up, launched on the initiative of Microsoft corporation to set a precedent".

"We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers... and are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual property violations.

"However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov," the letter read. It was also signed by Russian parliament deputy and banker Alexander Lebedev.

Mr Gorbachev said that under Russian criminal law the teacher could face "imprisonment in Siberian camps".

Surely this outrage cannot stand. It is even worse than Yahoo's turning in a Chinese journalist to the authorities because here, it appears, the charges are being pressed by Microsoft while Russia's top leadership is opposed to the punishment.