Cities shut down internet shops

Authorities in Ha Noi and HCM City have begun clamping down on internet cafes that violate the law.

The move follows a two-week investigation by Ha Noi’s Information and Communications Department. Every cafe inspected was found to be in breach of the law that demands they install appropriate management software and meet health and safety regulations.

In addition, 204 internet cafes in 17 districts were within 200 metres of schools, which is now prohibited under Vietnamese law.

In their defence, Pham Quoc Ban, the department’s director, said many of these cafes had opened before the current law was promulgated.

That said, internet access would be denied to these outlets at the end of the week, Ban said.

In addition, the department has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block Web access to every internet cafe from 11pm to 6am.

In HCM City, authorities have asked ISPs to block access to online games such as Dot kich (Crossfire), which is considered excessively violent, and pornographic sites.

Earlier this week, HCM City’s Department of Information and Communications ordered HCM City Telecommunications, VDC 2, Viettel, FPT Telecom, Sai Gon Postel, and EVN Telecom in HCM City to deny access to these sites.

Crossfire is produced by VTC, a multimedia corporation that is in fact managed by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The department has told ISPs to report the results of their shutdown by September 1. If their efforts are found to be insufficient, they will be subject to fines.

The department also said it would clamp down on advertising of online games in the city’s 24 districts.

A number of other online games have also been outlawed. Details will be sent to the seven ISPs in the next few days.

Earlier, FPT Online, which produces Dac nhiem anh hung (A Heroic Mission), announced that it would withdraw the game in April.

According to Le Manh Ha, director of the city’s Department of Information and Communications, other game providers had been asked to voluntarily withdraw access to excessively violent or pornographic material. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam internet shops