VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications has collected a total penalty of more than VND1.6 billion, detained over VND760 million and suspended operations of three service providers for spreading spam messages.

This is the result of an inspection into 47 companies providing entertainment messaging services done by the ministry’s inspectorate in collaboration with the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) and the Hi-Tech Crime Control Police (C50).

There are now nearly 350 companies providing such services across the country, said Nguyen Van Hung, chief inspector of the ministry.

All inspected firms were found committing violations, including sending spam messages, providing gambling services and imparting superstitious information, said Hung at a conference on new provisions against spam messages on Tuesday.

Vu Quoc Khanh, director of VNCERT, informed the agencies in charge of notifying and handling spam messages include the switchboard 456 of VNCERT and the centers set up by mobile operators for receiving complaints.

Every year, the switchboard 456 receives and handles around 160,000 complaints against spam messages.

Meanwhile, mobile operators have dealt with over 100,000 complaints sent by subscribers.

An incomplete report of mobile telecom firms shows that advertising messages number tens of billions each year, making up 10% of the total number of messages, said Khanh.

The Government issued Decree 90 on controlling spam messages four years ago, but over the years, the decree has lagged behind reality and thus needs amendments. Therefore, after a year of research and consultation, the Government has recently released Decree 77 to amend and supplement Decree 90.

Decree 77 stipulates that advertising e-mails and messages can only be sent to recipients upon their consent. The act of impersonating other organizations and individuals to send e-mails and messages is subject to a fine of VND60-80 million.

Previously, marketers and advertising service providers had 24 hours to stop sending e-mails and messages after receiving denials from recipients. However, under the new decree, they have to do it immediately.

VietNamNet/SGT