A Ben Tre resident has exploited unclear government regulations to earn billions of dong from websites featuring pornographic content created overseas.
P.T.A., who lives in the Mekong Delta, purchased a domain name from service providers in Japan and the United States before renting a server to upload pornographic pictures and videos from a range of foreign websites, Tuoi Tre reports.
The move paid immediate dividends, with A. reportedly earning VND18 million (US$800) per ad banner. He later set up two more websites which garnered 25 million visitors and roughly VND1.2 billion (US$53,000) in ad sales, according to the news outlet.
A.'s online escapades have tied the justice system in knots since the regulations regarding pornographic content are vague. The Ministry of Public Security says that A. could be charged with spreading obscene material as part of an investigation by the Ben Tre Police Department. The provincial police claim to have sufficient evidence to bring up such charges.
However, Ben Tre's People's Court and Procuracy disagrees, stating that A. did not violate the Penal Code since he only provided links to foreign sites. A., meanwhile, defends his sites as solely for business purposes, rather than to distribute obscene material. Nonetheless, he has been fined VND20 million (US$896) for violating regulations on posts, telecommunications and information.
The confusion over this case comes down to unclear regulations. The Penal Code states that anyone who distributes obscene content to a large crowd may be fined from VND5 million to VND50 million, or sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison.
However, Tuoi Tre quotes lawyer Vu Manh Quynh explaining that the law does not elaborate on what is considered "obscene content" or how many people constitute a "large crowd".
New rules to clarify these matters have been created, but they have not yet taken effect. Under these new regulations, anyone who shares more than one gigabyte of indecent content with over 10 people will be criminally charged.
[Photo via Entertainment Weekly]
