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Tens of thousands of registered sex offenders have been purged from social networks like Facebook and MySpace over the past several years -- banned by state laws prohibiting them from using chat rooms, social networks, or instant messaging.

However, some of these registered sex offenders are now trying to turn the tables in state courts. Legal battles over the right to use social networks have ensued across the U.S., from Indiana to Nebraska to Louisiana, according to the Associated Press.

The position of the registered sex offenders and civil liberties groups is that the state bans violate free speech … Read more

LinkedIn added a new mobile app to its repertoire today: the Windows Phone 7.5 application.

"We know professionals rely on their mobile devices every day to conduct business and to stay prepared for their work day," a mobile product manager at LinkedIn, Tomer Cohen, wrote in a blog post. "We've been working hard to make this new LinkedIn app best-in-class in the Windows Phone marketplace."

The job-based social network already has apps for iPhone and Android, but the company is saying that the Windows Phone app is the most sophisticated app it's developed … Read more

LinkedIn suffers, a bit, from dating site syndrome. The service is highly useful when you're looking for someone, or something from someone, but a bit less so when you're not. To get users back to the service more frequently, LinkedIn has been updating the site and the mobile apps to show its users information they can use even when they're not looking for a new job or to make a sale.

An iPhone app launched last year shows you what your contacts tell LinkedIn they're reading. Today the company is launching an iPad app (and updating … Read more

Rapportive announced that it was tying the knot with LinkedIn today.

"In business, partnership is dating--and we went on a lot of dates with LinkedIn. Slowly, but surely, we fell in love," Rapportive CEO Rahul Vohra wrote in a blog post. "Today, we are simply thrilled to announce that Rapportive is now part of LinkedIn!"

Earlier this month, AllThingsD broke the news that LinkedIn acquired the browser plugin Rapportive and then TechCrunch reported that the deal was sealed for $15 million.

The two companies had already partnered, so an acquisition wasn't too farfetched. The way … Read more

The browser plugin Rapportive, which lets users check their social networks within Gmail and Google Apps, is rumored to have been acquired by LinkedIn, according to AllThingsD.

"Sources familiar with the negotiations said LinkedIn offered Rapportive 'low teens' of millions of dollars worth of cash," writes AllThingsD. "The deal has not officially closed yet."

The way Rapportive works is it grabs data from social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and lets users view what's going on in a sidebar next to their e-mail inbox. Rapportive also has its own social network based on users' … Read more

Pinterest is now the fastest growing site for referral traffic, according to a new study by content-sharing company Shareaholic. If Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn's referral traffic were added up, they still wouldn't drive as many users as Pinterest.

The premise behind Pinterest is for users to gather, organize, and share things they find on the Web, such as home decorations, clothing, and food. The end result is curated pinboards that are meant to help friends discover new items or get inspiration. Currently, Pinterest is invite-only.

In the study, Shareaholic aggregated data from more than 200,000 publishers that … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Peter Thiel believes technology will make the world a much better place. He's simply frustrated at how long it's taking.

The billionaire entrepreneur is best known for co-founding PayPal, and, more recently, for his very early investment in Facebook. He founded Clarium Capital Management, a hedge fund, created the philanthropic Thiel Foundation, and co-produced the irreverent 2005 comedy Thank You for Smoking.

In May, the Thiel Foundation announced the first 24 recipients of a fellowship that awards $100,000 each to youth under 20 years old--essentially encouraging them to drop out of college to become entrepreneurs. The … Read more

Here at the epicenter of social networking, birthplace of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it's easy to lose sight of just how much the rest of the world loves our homespun social-media creations.

As it turns out, social networking is enjoyed overseas even more than here at home in Silicon Valley. Underscoring this notion is a newly released international study from Experian Hitwise tracking the top eight countries spending the most time on Facebook and other social networks.

Here's the lowdown: Singapore loves Facebook more than any other country. In August, people in Singapore spent the most time on Facebook 38 minutes and 46 seconds per session, while those in New Zealand spent 30 minutes and 31 seconds. Australians spent 26 minutes and 27 seconds; next, folks in the United Kingdom spent 25 minutes and 33 seconds; and the United States came in 5th place with 20 minutes 46 seconds, followed by France, India, and Brazil.

Not surprisingly, Facebook was the most visited social network in the United States in August, leading with 91 percent of all visits. Second place went to Twitter with 1.92 percent of all social-networking visits. San Francisco-based Tagged.com came in third place for the first time with 1.04 percent of all visits, overtaking MySpace. … Read more

President Obama and a trio of House Republicans are visiting Silicon Valley today to highlight their competing proposals for boosting the U.S. economy.

Advisers had promised that Obama's town-hall style event organized by LinkedIn would address questions about jobs, the economy, and "how to move the country forward." It turns out Obama's answers amounted to a single recommendation: pass his proposed legislation known as the American Jobs Act (PDF), which includes a mix of additional government spending, temporary tax breaks, and permanent additional taxes that would take effect 16 months from now.

For their part, … Read more