Watch John Vause's video on China's cyber vigilantes.

John Vause
CNN Asia Correspondent

It all sounds very creepy: Human Flesh Search Engines. That’s what they call the cyber vigilantes who trawl the Internet looking for information to publicly shame those who they believe have done wrong. Think black and white movie, angry mob with burning torches and pitch forks. It’s not unique to China, but it certainly happens here a lot.

Lin Jiaxiang ended up on the wrong side of the mob.

Earlier this year, security camera video was posted on line, showing him allegedly trying to force an 11 year old girl into a restroom at a restaurant. Internet users, or netizens as they’re called here, were further outraged when a transcript emerged of an argument between Lin and the girl’s father.

“How much money do you want, just tell me I’ll give you the money,” he says. “I have the same seniority as your Mayor. So what if I tried to grab a little child’s neck.”

The netizens went to work, and the human flesh search engine kicked in. It’s a bit like the old town square: someone has one piece of information, which leads to another piece from someone else, which leads to another, until there’s a clear picture of the person involved. Lin was identified and fired by the government within a month.

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CNN’s John Vause looks at how Chinese Netizens brought down an official, thanks to “human flesh search engines.

Program Note: Look for Andy Serwer talking about economy on tonight’s AC360° at 10pm.

Andy Serwer
Managing editor, Fortune

In this video clip, Fortune’s Andy Serwer says that the print media is struggling with increasing Internet competition.

Editor’s Note: Leslie Sanchez is a former adviser to President Bush and CEO of Impacto Group, which specializes in market research about women and Hispanics for its corporate and nonprofit clients.

Leslie Sanchez | Bio
CNN Political Contributor
Republican Strategist

Ever since John McCain and Howard Dean in 2000 showed the Internet’s potential for fundraising, the question was always whether the Web could be effective at “GOTV,” or getting-out-the-vote.

Among young voters at least, Barack Obama has proven that it can — and, in the process, he’s uncovered a major flaw that cuts to the core of the Republicans’ approach to party organization and discipline.

Obama poured many of his campaign’s millions into his social networking operations on the Web, which his campaign rightly saw as critical to building grassroots support and enthusiasm.

A community organizer by training, occupation and nature, Obama saw his databases for the potential they represented — an army of supportive voices, a legion of potential volunteers, and a division of precinct captains.

Such is the world not just of Chicago ward organizations, but of politics everywhere.

The McCain campaign, reflecting the broader skepticism I’ve seen in the GOP about the Web, doubted whether the Internet could get voters out of their Barcaloungers (or, in the case of younger voters, off their futons) and into the polling booth.

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David Fitzpatrick
Special Investigations Unit Producer

If there was any doubt at all that the sale of prescription drugs over the internet, without a doctor’s legitimate authorization, is very big business, what happened in Kansas over the last couple of days should dispel those notions in a heartbeat.

The Kansas Attorney General’s office arrested and jailed three people, a pharmacist and the co-owners of a small pharmacy in the northwestern part of the state, on multiple felony and misdemeanor counts. Hogan’s Pharmacy is in a tiny town called Lyons. And according to documents filed in court, this small storefront operation, in a town of no more than 3,000 people, handled nearly $1.9 million in wire transfers in 2007 alone.

CNN Correspondent Drew Griffin and I went to Lyons a few months ago as part of an AC 360 investigation into internet prescription abuse. We had met and interviewed a young widow only the day before. Her husband had ordered the muscle-relaxant drug Soma over the internet—time and time again. Many of the pills came from Hogan’s Pharmacy and came without any legitimate order from a physician. One day last year, she went to their bedroom and found her husband unresponsive. He had died of an overdose of Soma.

There’s a good reason why doctors limit doses of Soma. Research by the Food and Drug Administration shows that it is one of those class of drugs which can be easily abused. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, there’s now some consideration being given to classifying Soma as a “controlled substance,” putting it in the same category of dangerous drugs such as Xanax and Hydrocodone..

I was sitting in my New York City office when that widow telephoned me to express her thanks to the Kansas authorities and to CNN for the investigative work. She told me she would likely testify in any coming trials and was looking forward to doing so.

Keeping them honest, we’ll continue to investigate prescription drug sales over the Internet.

Attorney General Steve Six announced charges today against Hogan’s Pharmacy owners Jolane and Mark Poindexter for their part in an Internet pharmacy scheme. The pharmacist in charge, Rick Kloxin, was charged earlier this week.

An Egyptian man with AIDS finds his voice on the internet website YouTube.

In a carefully crafted eight-minute clip, he highlights the stigma surrounding living with AIDS in the Arab world.

“I haven’t seen my family in 5 years. I left them when I felt that their life will be easier without me. You know how rude neighbors and friends can be? I got tired so I left.”

He then describes his family’s rejection: “my sister once said, ‘leave us alone I don’t want my kids to be… queer like you.’ The words hurt me. Queer means abnormal, scandalous, and disgraceful.”

With some 40,000 views on YouTube, the posting is inspiring debate. The kind that is generally missing in the Arab world. 

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