VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Ha Dong, the game developer, famous for his Flappy Bird game, may be subject to criminal prosecution under the amended 2015 Criminal Code which will take effect on July 1, 2016.

Dong may be accused of violating Article No 292 of the code on ‘illegally providing services on computing and telecommunication networks’.

According to Lawyer Pham Cong Ut in HCMC, under the current laws, the violation would be fined for administrative violations. However, after July 1, 2016, when the Criminal Code takes effect, it may be subject to criminal prosecution.

Ut said the article does not aim to restrict creativity in information technology. If the creativity does not aim to make profit, or just have high profitability (less than VND50 million), it will not be considered as an ‘act endangering the society’. 

Dong may be accused of violating Article No 292 of the code on ‘illegally providing services on computing and telecommunication networks’.

However, this will be quite different if brings the income of $50,000 a day (VND1.1 billion) like in Dong’s case. This means that Dong has to apply for the license for his creative product, or he will face the 5-year imprisonment sentence or will be forced to pay the fine of VND1.5-5 billion.

Ut commented on Song Moi that Nguyen Ha Dong will not be able to escape criminal prosecution unless he applies for the licensing immediately.

However, lawyers disagree on Dong’s case. Lawyer Le Thiep said that Nguyen Ha Dong is just a computer programmer, not a service provider.

“In this case, Dong does not need to apply for license,” Thiep said. “Only the institutions which use the app in doing business for profit will have to apply for license."

Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc from Basico Law Firm also thinks that Dong must not be accused of ‘doing business illegally’. 

Duc said on Bizlive that writing electronic games is a legal behavior and posting games on internet is also a legal action. In this case, this must not be seen as the behavior of ‘trading commodities and services’.

“This case is just like cases where someone posts his images and video clips on internet and receives attention from millions of people,” Duc commented.

“Once someone is known to many people, he would have the opportunities to sign ad contracts with businesses and earn big money from the contracts,” he explained.

Professional footballers in the world, for example, can sign the ad contracts worth several millions of dollars, but this must not be called a ‘business’. However, Duc said, they have to pay personal income tax, or they will be punished for tax evasion.

GDT has confirmed that Dong has declared his income from Flappy Bird to GDT and paid over VND1 billion in tax.


CV