Economic blogger who angered Seoul is acquitted

29 April 2009 | 15:29 - By Stefano Boscutti

A South Korean online economic commentator who criticized and angered the government but commanded a huge following was freed from jail after a court acquitted him of charges of maliciously spreading false information on the internet.

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The arrest of Park Dae-sung in January and his ensuing trial on charges of spreading false data in public with a harmful intent - a crime punishable by as much as five years in prison - prompted debate about how much freedom of expression should be tolerated in cyberspace in this extensively wired country. Mr. Park gained an almost prophet-like status among many South Koreans after he correctly predicted the collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, the crash of the South Korean currency - the won - and the effects of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis on South Korea. It's never easy to imprison the truth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/business/global/21blogger.html

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About this Blog

New New Media looks at how our mediascape is exploding to bits. How the latest technology and the internet are changing the way we live, work and play. How the latest media is shaping us all.

Stefano Boscutti is an executive creative director and strategist. He's like a better looking version of Todd Sampson. He also has an abiding faith that stories and wordplay (and not powerpoint presentations) will change the world.

 
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