More attacks on Yahoo! over 'illegal website'
01-AUG-2008 Intellasia | Saigon Times Daily page 1
Aug 1, 2008 - 7:02:00 AM
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The Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa) has lodged a formal complaint to the Ministry of Information and Communication saying Yahoo is violating Vietnamese regulations on digital content supply and is operating an 'illegal website'in the country.
Vinasa claimed that Yahoo Vietnam has no licenses to run websites in Vietnam, and act as an online services provider (OSP).
Decision 27/2002/QD-BVHTT issued by the Ministry of Culture and Information, the present-day Ministry of Information and Communication, specifies that enterprises without a license issued by the ministry have no right to provide online information and set up a website.
In reality Yahoo has been running its website in Vietnamese with a dot-vn domain name without a license from the ministry, according to Vinasa's written complaint sent to the ministry.
Yahoo is also allegedly infringing Decree 55/2002/ND-CP issued on August 23, 2001 by the government to govern internet services. This decision states that enterprises must secure a license from the ministry to provide internet services such as chat, email and blogging.
According to the Vietnam Game and Digital Content Business Club of Vinasa, Yahoo has no OSP license in the country but it is providing internet services in the Vietnamese language like Yahoo!HoivaDap (Q&A), Yahoo! Music,, and Yahoo! Messenger.
Yahoo now has a representative office license issued by the HCM City Trade Department, now the Department of Industry and Trade, on August 13, 2007 and this license was revised on May 23 this year. As a representative office, Yahoo cannot engage in direct trading activities in Vietnam.
Yahoo recently announced the selection of four enterprises as its advertising agents in Vietnam, they are Admax, FPT Online Advertising, Gapit and Golden Communication Corporation. These Yahoo partners can sell online advertising space to local companies.
However, Vu Minh Tri, general director of Yahoo Vietnam, said Yahoo had not violated Vietnam law.
He said Yahoo had bought the dot-vn domain name from the Vietnam internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) and that the Yahoo website in Vietnamese is being run by Yahoo Singapore and the said domain name is just the Vietnamese version of Yahoo Singapore's website at vn.yahoo.com.
Yahoo is doing business through Yahoo Singapore, not Yahoo Vietnam, he said.
Explaining the lack of an OSP license, Tri said Yahoo has not broken Vietnam law because the company only introduced its products at yahoo.com.vn, a version of vn.yahoo.com. So, it does not need an OSP license, he said.
Yahoo recently sent two documents to the Ministry of Information and Communication and the HCM City Department of Information and Communication clarifying the issue.
"We are waiting for an official reply from the authorities over the case," Tri said. He added Yahoo was preparing paperwork to establish a company in Vietnam to provide internet services and value added services.
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