By Nicholas Carlson, 12:40 PM on Wed May 14 2008, 692 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

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In late May, Facebook will launch a Contest/Sweepstakes application to allow marketers to cajole Facebook users into becoming "fans" of their clients. Australia's Carl Williams needed no such fakery to build his Facebook fanbase — just a 35-year prison sentence for three murders and drug trafficking. Williams can claim 974 Facebook friends, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. A Facebook group which implores members to "please sign this petition to secure the release of our favourite Melbourne gangster Carl Williams" has 423 members, with 74 having joined this morning.