It think that some of the articles with negative news about Apple (the ones making a fuss over fairly minor things), be be designed to cause ripples in the stock price. Things won't always be as obvious as MS-paid people trying to discredit Linux. Even rumors that aren't true may cause some reaction that can be exploited. I think there are many posts on many site for many topics that have ulterior motives. If you think of any situation where someone wishes to get or deny some kind of advantage, there's the potential for cyber-warfare.
It can happen at any level, it can be powerful even when not fully understood.
Look at kids driving other kids to suicide.
Influencing people is power. Why do you think the diversity in ownership of U.S. broadcasters has become so eroded? There's more to it than lack of competition.
