Vietnam Requires Businesses to License Web Sites
HANOI - Businesses and organizations setting up Web sites in
Vietnam must obtain a license from the culture ministry, according to a new
government regulation.
A copy of the October 10 ruling, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, did not
explain the license requirement but said Web site owners must not provide
information that would harm Vietnam's independence and its national security,
agitate for war or expose state secrets.
The regulation comes as Hanoi attempts to combat material it sees as
subversive.
Diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations and news agencies
"willing to provide information on the Internet in Vietnam" must obtain a license
by the Foreign Ministry, the document said.
Owners of Web sites that frequently update information fall under the new rule,
Do Quy Doan, head of the Ministry of Culture and Information's press
department was quoted by Wednesday's Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper as
saying.
However, no permission was required for the Web sites that carry
advertisements where information was not regularly updated.
The rule did not make clear if local Web sites based on overseas computer
servers would have to be licensed.
Officials at the ministry were not immediately available for comment.
Hanoi has been cracking down on the Internet. It recently shut down a local
Web site that it said was not properly registered and it has stepped up scrutiny
of Internet cafes.
In August, Hanoi urged Internet access providers to fortify filters to block
pornography and anti-government material.
Reuters - October 16, 2002
Vietnam issues new web site rules
HANOI - Worried by the increasing numbers of Vietnamese with access to news from outside sources, officials have been trying to tighten their control over the Internet.
The government recently ordered that owners of the country's estimated 4,000 Internet cafes be held responsible for controlling their clients' Web surfing.
In March, police arrested physician Pham Hong Son for translating and posting an article on democracy from a U.S. State Department Web site and posting it on the Internet.
In August, the government shut down an online political forum, TTVNOnline.com, for posting information critical of the government.
The Ministry of Culture and Information, which issued the new rules, did not divulge the penalties for breaking them.
Under current law, however, Internet offenses in the tightly controlled communist country are punishable by fines of up to US$ 3,250 or up to three years in jail.
The Associated Press - October 14, 2002
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