In an attempt to extend political control into cyberspace, the government in Shanghai has tried a software entrepreneur on charges that he attempted to undermine the state through the Internet, the first trial of a "cyber-dissident" in China.

Mr Lin Hai, (30), is accused of inciting subversion by providing 30,000 Chinese email addresses to "hostile foreign organisations," a charge that could bring a maximum penalty of life in prison. Mr Lin pleaded not guilty.

Mr Lin, who ran an Internet job search and marketing business in Shanghai, allegedly gave the addresses to the Washington-based VIP Reference, an Internet dissident magazine that emails pro-democracy essays and articles to hundreds of thousands of Internet users in China.

The four-hour trial was held behind closed doors at the Shanghai's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court and a verdict is not yet known.