Vietnam Cracks Down on Internet Content
The spreading popularity of the Internet in Vietnam is causing the country's government to increase its watch over what people look at and do online.
The Associated Press reported on Feb. 3 that Internet Cafes in Vietnam are no longer just a place for college students. Within the last year, non-students are increasingly using the cafes to check email and play games.
Yet even as the country tries to grow its online population from one million to four million by 2005, the government is working to make sure its citizens aren't using the Internet to view politically subversive, pornographic, violent and otherwise questionable content.
"We encourage people to use the Internet because it contributes to rapid social development and speeds up integration with the world," said Phan An Sa, who is a deputy inspector at the Ministry of Culture and Information. "It doesn't mean they can do anything at any time."
The ministry is preparing to offer for approval several new rules for managing the country's Internet usage, including a regulation requiring Vietnam-based sites to register with the state and ask for approval for each change they make to their sites. Internet cafe operators could also be asked to keep track of their customers' online activity.
"Restaurant owners must guarantee the food is free from harmful substances," Sa said. "Therefore it's the same with Internet cafe owners. They are not allowed to provide young people with poisonous substances."
In Thailand, the Case Grows for Legal Gambling
Interest in legalizing gambling is growing in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported this month, as the Prime Minister acknowledged the prevalence of illegal gambling dens and local research found that between 500 billion and 800 billion baht is spent on illegal gambling in Thailand each year.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said he will take action against the gambling dens, whose operators pay the Bangkok police high fees to protect them.
Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University economists found recently that gamblers spend the equivalent of 40 percent of the local economy on gambling per year. In addition, Thais spend between 71 billion and 84 billion baht at casinos across Thailand's borders.
Thai police were found to have been paid 6.67 billion baht to overlook illegal gambling in 2001.
Malta Steps Up Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
The government of Malta is pledging to extend its fight against money laundering to more professions that may be used to launder funds.
The country's finance minister, John Dalli, said the Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit is going to ask the government to extend anti-money laundering regulations to the legal procession, estate agents, accountants and auditors, Offshore Week reported recently.
"My government's commitment to fight money laundering is not limited to the financial sector and the domestic markets," Dalli said. "We have already extended the Prevention of Money Laundering Regulations to casinos through the Gaming Act Regulations."
Dalli also said that a new practice will be put in place at Malta's borders that will require people to declare what cash and valuables they are carrying out of or into the country.
"This will enable the authorities to keep better track of such movements and to build a more complete picture of what is happening in the country, which could have a bearing on any potential money laundering activities," he said.