FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Vietnam’s media is state-owned, its blogs and bloggers monitored and its occasional protests attended by uniformed officers while being filmed by plain-clothes ones. However, if you want a SIM card, and thus a new number, for your mobile phone it is no harder than handing over a few dollars. Unlike much of the rest of the world, including neighbouring Cambodia, no photo ID is required. One international telecommunications expert was amazed at how free Vietnam is compared to other nations, in this one respect at least. Read more in The Economist.