Vietnam to Ban Late Night Gaming

The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication has asked the country’s ISPs to block online gaming access. The ban will begin starting March 3, blocking online gaming from 10 pm to 8 am.

“Provincial departments of information and communication will inspect on-line games activities nationwide and deal with organizations that violate regulations by canceling their services,” said the ministry’s Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang.

The ban’s main purpose is to eradicate possible negative side effects caused by gaming, such as tardiness to social affairs and diminished attention, as well as to prevent Vietnamese children from spending too much time online. But one of the problems it will have on the country is their mass amount of Internet cafes, which are incredibly popular and attract crowds of gamers.

On the upside, though, the Vietnamese government will revise the decree later in the year, though anything short of removing it entirely will still be a pain for the 23 million Internet users in the country.