Under a draft decree of the Ministry of Information and Communications,
players of unlicensed online games will be fined up to US$48, while violations
related to game service provision can be punished with fines of up to $9,600.
The ministry is collecting
feedback about the draft law document to finalize it before submitting it to
the Government for approval.
Under Article 22 of the draft
decree, a pecuniary penalty ranging from VND500,000 to VND1 million ($48) will
be imposed on the following acts: playing games that have yet to be licensed or
registered; not providing players’ personal information; violating the
regulation on the time limit for players – a player is not allowed to play more
than 180 minutes in total per day; and for online game shops, operating outside
of the allowed hours of 8 am to 10 pm.
Meanwhile, a fine from VND10
million to VND200 million ($9,600) will be given to those who violate
regulations on licensing online game provision.
For example, a VND30-50 million
($2,400) fine will be applied to providers that offer games with frightening
sounds or images, with content that arouses violence, lustfulness or amorality,
or are against Vietnam’s ethical and cultural habits and customs, or something
similar.
The draft decree also requires
that online game service points be located at least 100 meters away from
schools and have a sign board that identify themselves. Violations of this
regulation will be fined from VND10 million to VND20 million.
Fines will also be given to
online game providers that do not show a classification of games for each age
range of players in their advertisements or on their websites.
The draft decree also bans the
conversion of virtual items or bonus points related to games into money or
assets in any form.
Feedback on feasibility
In response to the draft, many
online game players wondered how they are to know whether the game they are
playing is already licensed or not.
“There are hundreds of kinds of
games offered at an online game service point and we simply choose games to
play. We are unable to differentiate licensed games from unlicensed ones. Is it
reasonable that we are fined in such cases?” said Tien Dat, an online game
player in Tan Phu District, HCMC.
With respect to players’
information declaration, an online game provider who simply identified him as
Minh said, “It is hard to know whether the information declared by a player is
true or wrong. They can give us any information as their personal details,
while we have no right to force them to show their ID card for comparison.”
Minh added that even if he had
such a right and executed it, his shop would lose customers.
Meanwhile, many others said that
concerned agencies must do more to tighten control over online games and wipe
out illicit or illegal games from the market.
“Is it true that authorities have
failed to manage developers and providers of illicit games, so they simply turn
to imposing a ban on game players?”, many people said on related Internet
forums.
Huynh Nhi, a resident of HCMC’s
Tan Binh District, said, “Putting game players under control is a sound way
after all, since it can help parents to manage their children playing games.
However, close coordination between concerned agencies, Internet service
providers, game issuers, game service suppliers and owners of game shops to
implement such regulations is not easy at all.”
TUOI TRE
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