The Ministry of Information and
Communications has ordered all internet service providers (ISP) to stop
providing online games from 10pm to 8am every day from March 30.

Once the
order comes into effect, inspectors from local information and communications
departments will carry out checks.

“This is
a temporary solution while we await new Government regulations for managing
online games,” Luu Vu Hai, director of the Ministry’s Broadcasting and
Electronic Information Management Department, said.

In Ha
Noi, authorities will first tighten control over service providers before
turning their attention to internet centres.

This
method has worked in HCM City since it was introduced last September, with the
11 ISPs and 18 online games providers falling in line.

Thanks
to its success, the Ministry has changed its mind about completely cutting off
internet to internet centres at night.

However,
Dong Nai Province near HCM City is taking no chances and cuts off internet
services to the centres at night.

“This is
the most thorough way to ward off the bad impacts caused by online games,”
Nguyen Minh Hung, director of the province’s Department of Information and
Communications, said.

“We had
a guideline from the Ministry but we acted based on our situation.”

Another
southern province, Binh Duong, has been cutting off the internet from 11pm to
6am since September.

A recent
survey of 282 students of Can Tho University found 66 per cent of them playing
online games one to three times a day for a duration of two to three hours each
time.

There
are 62 internet shops around the university and 55 per cent of lodging houses
have internet connections.

“The
measure will help limit the time students spend on online games,” Tran Thien
Binh, secretary of the University’s Youth Union, said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News