Here is a decent introduction to the key issues with software patents, delivered by Mark Webbink. Below you'll find some past coverage along with videos that make various points.
They don't care about the users and issuing a few bytes with random characters costs them next to nothing. It gives them control over billions of human beings.
If even one media outlet told you in 2010 that Microsoft would fall from 100% (of Web requests) to about 1 in 8 Web requests, you'd probably struggle to believe it