The Ministry of Information and Communications’ Inspectorate has just slapped heavy financial sanctions on three senders of spams with a total fine of VND240 million, and threatened to move on against other violators soon, an official said.

Nguyen Van Hung, chief of the inspectorate, told a regular monthly review meeting of the ministry in Hanoi on Monday that the three violators punished this time are information technology firms. As per the punitive sanctions, Thien Viet was fined VND40 million for sending spams, while VNN Media and Vietnet racked up punishments of VND50 million each.

VNN Media and Vietnet were also forced to pay fines of VND50 million each for disseminating gambling messages, Hung said.

But the blacklisted violators are not limited to these three companies.

Hung said the Inspectorate is coming up with another list of five more violators, who will face similar sanctions, i.e. sending spams and distributing gambling messages. These five companies are Postal Telecommunication Service Joint Stock Company, SmartMedia, Huong Phat Telecom, Telecommunication and IT Company No. 5, and another private firm, which has been found to send up to 2,000 spams each day.

Hung did not reveal the amount of fines to be imposed on these five companies.

In recent times, spams have become a major headache for telephone subscribers who have to endure unwanted ads on realty sales, ads of SIM cards for sale, and ads for various types of products and services.

Several telecom service providers even abuse phone directories of such initial numbers as 1800 and 1900, which should be used to take care of customers, to distribute spams.

“Spams, especially from directories with the initial number 1800, have become increasingly disturbing recently. Even while I am sitting in this meeting room, several spams have been sent to my phone,” Hung is quoted in Vietnamnet as saying.

As long as the Telecommunications Department has not issued a circular on management of such directories, spam sending will remain uncontrollable, Hung stressed at the meeting.

While pending the circular, the Telecommunications Department has just issued a document to telcos, banning them from using such directory numbers to make phone calls in an effort to check spams.

But Hung also stressed that apart from violating telcos, any phone user can use his or her phone number to send spams to other phone subscribers, which is very difficult to control.

However, according to Hung, new legal documents will be considered for issuance by the ministry right this month, with an aim to stop telcos from harassing subscribers.

Source: SGT/VNN