Bloggers play an increasingly important role in liberal democracies when it comes to keeping government officials accountable and ensuring that a story is told, even if mainstream media does not feel compelled to cover it. But in communist Vietnam, the situation for bloggers remains particularly perilous, as 26 year old Nguyen Tien Trung is now discovering for himself. Trung edited a blog which offered sharp criticism of Vietnam?s one party, dictatorial state and promoted dissent. He was part of a group of three young Vietnamese men, all tied to pro-democracy opposition groups. Interestingly, Trung submitted a guilty plea when court officials asked him if he felt that he had broken the law, which casts any criticism of the country?s communist leaders as pure, undiluted subversion. The minimum sentence for engaging in subversive activities is 12 years in prison, but the charge can also result in death by a firing squad.</p> <p>After he was arrested, the prominent opposition blogger expressed ?regret? for his actions, as they have negatively impacted his family. Trung worked not only as an outspoken blogger but also served as a technology specialist, after completing his education in France. Unless the Blogosphere places huge international pressure on the Vietnamese government to release Trung and his two colleagues, the young blogger is almost certain to spend over a decade in prison, and may face execution. The prosecutor employed stern words in describing Trung?s crime, noting that his blog was used to ?make people disbelieve party and state leadership.? The blogger?s chances of winning his case are miniscule, as Vietnam almost never acquits someone charged with political crimes.

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Twitter might seem like an ideal place to post clever one-liners, dry humour or plain undiluted polemics, but 26 year old Paul Chambers learned that some jokes might land you in hot water. Chambers, an avid Twitter user from Britain, had been waiting to board his flight at Doncaster-Sheffield?s Robin Hood Airport when a snow storm hit and caused the delay of most departures. In his frustration, Chambers began micro-blogging and in one of his tweets he issued an ultimatum: either the Sheffield hub gets its act together, or the Twitter fan will consider ?blowing the airport sky high.? Chambers almost certainly even forgot about his ominous tweet, until British anti-terrorism police came knocking on his door seven days after the post, in order to arrest him.</p> <p>That one tweet landed Chambers in jail for seven hours, during which time investigators questioned him about his threat to blow up the Sheffield airport. Chambers argued that all of this was simply a joke, born out of his own frustration during the snowstorm, and that he is the ?most mild-mannered guy you can imagine.?</p> <p>But in the end, Chambers? tweet had consequences beyond his arrest and interrogation. The 26 year old Twitter fan has been banned in perpetuity from Robin Hood Airport. While in the future Chambers he may still turn to micro-blogging for solace during trying air travel experiences, he certainly won?t be doing it from Sheffield. According to a report in The Independent, Chambers is the first person to be arrested in Britain for posting threatening or inappropriate posts on Twitter.

Billy Bragg, a British alternative folk and country music icon, is busy spending the final two weeks before taxes are due convincing his Facebook friends and fans not to file their annual self-assessment by the 31 January 2010 deadline. Bragg has turned to Facebook in order to champion one of his prized causes: namely, convincing Prime Minister Gordon Brown?s government to ban corporate CEOs and top bankers from collecting bonuses that exceed </p>

American hip hop singer and rapper Wyclef Jean may have a real talent for using Twitter to raise much needed funds for a devastated Haiti, but does he know how to run a professional and transparent charity? Despite Jean?s conspicuous presence on the world?s largest micro-blogging site, ABC News reports are causing some to worry about whether his foundation, Y</p>

Rumours travelled far and wide on Twitter earlier today that American Airlines and discount carrier JetBlue were offering free</p>

A convict who had escaped from his Suffolk prison last September and posted daily status updates to his Facebook profile mocking British police officers who were unable to track him down for four months, won?t be posting any more updates to the popular social networking site anytime soon. Twenty-eight year old Craig Lynch was finally arrested yesterday and will now not only face the remainder of his seven year prison sentence for burglary, but will also appear before a South East London magistrate in order to be charged with his escape from the prison. According to media reports, Lynch was reportedly tracked down by police in Kent, and not a minute too early, considering the fugitive?s constant mocking of a seemingly inept police force on Facebook.</p> <p>More than 40,000 Facebook users signed up as ?fans? on Lynch?s page, where the convict posted photos and regular status updates. Whenever Facebook would shut his page down?at the insistence of British authorities?a new profile page would appear and Lynch?s fans would double in number. In one of his photos, Lynch posed half naked, holding a holiday turkey in one hand, with red garland wrapped around his neck. In another picture he extended his middle finger in just one of many taunting poses aimed at aggravating police. Only recently, Lynch mused on Facebook about his New Year?s Eve plans and indicated that he would eventually turn himself over to police, but on his terms and at a point of his choosing. When police were asked about how Lynch was able to escape from prison, they noted that he simply ?walked out.? The Hollesley Bay prison is a so-called ?open? facility. This means that the emphasis is less on punishment and segregation from society, and more on the hope of best reintegrating inmates once they complete their sentence.

While Facebook has grown exponentially in popularity throughout the world, bosses and department supervisors have grown particularly weary of employees using the social networking site at the workplace.</p> <p>Many companies in North America and Europe have blocked access to the Facebook site from office computers, but a new innovation now allows users to reply to wall comments without ever having to visit the social networking tool?s website. When registered users receive an e-mail notification that a friend has left a comment on their wall, they have the choice of replying directly to the comment by e-mail, without the need to click on a hyperlink that would take them to the actual website. The e-mailed response is then automatically posted on the user?s wall.</p> <p>It is, however, important to remember that this new function will only be available to users if they modify their account settings and choose the e-mail notification option. This way, Facebook sends an automated alert whenever a friend posts a message to one?s profile. While this new feature allows users to reply to comments posted directly to one?s wall, or under photos and status updates, Facebook has yet to make it easier for people to reply to private messages sent through the site. In these cases, users will still be required to log on to Facebook.com.</p> <p>The world?s largest social networking site now boast an annual revenue of over $300 million, employs a workforce of more than 900 and has some 350 million users worldwide.

Twitter might be the world?s most popular micro-blogging site and it may even be giving its larger social networking rival, Facebook, a run for its money, but the website?s owners have so far been unable to turn a profit. This, however, may soon change, with Reuters reporting that Twitter is looking to hire computer scientists and new media experts to help it monetize a site that has managed to attract just about everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Fry, down to your local bakery. Launched just over two years ago, Twitter has grown exponentially, but so have its yearly losses. While Facebook?s founders became wealthy through advertising, Twitter has not been able to develop a successful business model aimed a monetizing its popularity.</p> <p>Twitter is actively looking at ways to change this unhappy predicament. Other than expanding its staff by 26 new employees who will be commissioned with turning the micro-blogging tool into a business success, the company also signed an agreement with Google--boasting an estimated value of $25 million?through which it provides the world?s leading search engine with a license for tweets and other Twitter content. As such, all tweets and other posts are now searchable through Google.</p> <p>Despite the losses, Twitter has been growing in recent months. The company moved into a new and larger building late last year and the social networking site managed to raise $100 million during the fall. As such, Twitter now has a net worth of over $1 billion. Other than generating profits through advertising, there is strong chance that Twitter will offer a premium service?including a detailed analysis of statistics?to those willing to pay an extra subscription fee.

France?s President Nicolas Sarkozy is getting ready to tax Facebook, the world?s most popular social networking site, as well as a handful of other popular web services. Sarkozy has reportedly decided that the time has come to extend government regulation over online new media and will seek to tax some of the world?s most popular sites, including Google and Yahoo. The French government?s plan will essentially levy a new tax on all online advertising revenue generated by major corporations. But reports indicate that the government is likely to take money generated through Facebook and re-invest it into the internet, namely to help develop new, legal ways to purchase or share music files and other artistic content online.</p> <p>France has taken an especially merciless approach when it comes to tackling the problem of illegal file sharing and downloading. But the French government is also at odds with Google over plans to digitize the world?s books and make these searchable. France has decided to give the popular search engine a run for its money by launching its own digitization project. The BBC reported that its digital library would cost French taxpayers nearly </p>