Nine out of ten web users prefer porn

Microsoft has been forced to fix a bug in its MSN Communities website that exposed users' personal image files to all and sundry.

Aside from the obvious security implications, the glitch also revealed that nine out of 10 MSN Communities users have online collections of hardcore porn, and thousands of people have now seen it.

Since its initial discovery about two weeks ago, internet users have been hammering what has become known as the Magic Link - a page accidentally discovered at communities.msn.com/_Secure which allowed people to view the image files that MSN Communities users had placed on their webspace.

Simply refreshing the link brought up different images, leading to speculation that the page may mirror the images actually being accessed by MSN users at the time.

Although the glitch was fixed this morning, thousands of people have had a glimpse into the picture libraries of MSN users, and have been either stunned, shocked or amused by the results.

Every now and again the expected family photos, party snaps, holiday pics and graduation shots came up, but around 90 per cent of the time the images were hardcore pornography.

As word spread about the super smut link, someone had the foresight to set up a fan website. Housed at webpages.charter.net/robk, the Magic Link site poked fun at the picture collections, and managed to rack up nearly 13,000 hits over the last four days.

The site is plastered with disclaimers referring to the content that users might come across (no pun intended), from the blatantly filthy, to the downright bizarre.

"I am merely exploiting a bug for the amusement of the masses. I am not responsible for anything you see. Blame it on society," reads one. "You may laugh, you may cry, you may become disgusted, and/or addicted to this link."

But rather than insulting anyone, the site seems to have struck a humourous bone in most users. "Hahahahaaa! This is great. 9 times out of 10, it's porno. Just shows you what MSN is really about. Hahahahaaa," wrote one user.