If you’re under 18 and you use virtual currency in Vietnam, you’ll be fined up to $3,500 [UPDATED]

Correction: I made a translation mistake in this article. It is not the teenager that will get fined, but the games distributor. Therefore, if a child under the age of 18 plays games over a certain amount of hours and/or uses virtual currency, the penalty will go to the games distributor, not the child. I humbly apologize for my mistake.

Effective January 14th, Decree 174 in Vietnam will take effect. It outlines several new rules that will apply to Vietnamese netizens that will limit behavior online. Ictnews, one of Vietnam’s leading tech news watchers, has spotted a few peculiar details of the Decree that relate specifically to gaming. The most notable of which is the restriction of teenagers to not be able to play games after curfew. The fine for such a violation will range from $2,500 to $5,000.

The most significant aspects of the decree are as follows:

• If you set up a gaming center with gaming equipment like computers and consoles (like an internet cafe that host games) but do not have a license to do so or your certificate has expired, you will be fined anywhere from $2,000 to $3,500.
• If you build or set up a system to provide video games without a license, you will be fined $3,500 to $5,000.
• If you provide gaming content that includes horror, violence, beastiality, sex, perversion, and immoral acts that contradict Vietnamese culture and history or cause potential social discontent like drinking, smoking, terrorism, child abuse, gambling, child trafficking, and other harmful behavior, you will be fined $1,000 to $1,500.
• Servers that host games abroad without a license will be fined $1,500 to $2,000.
• Advertising of video games in the G1 category without a license can lead to a fine of $2,000 to $2,500.
• If you are under 18 years old, and you play games for more than the allotted time (this time is not specified in the decree), [the games distributor] could be fined $2,500 to $3,500.
• If you are under 18 years old, and you use virtual currency over a certain amount, [the games distributor] could be fined $2,500 to $3,500.

In other words, Vietnam’s video gaming industry is in for a big shock to its system. Companies like VNG, which is Vietnam’s biggest gaming distributor, rely almost solely on virtual currency via video games on through their games distribution channel. At the moment, it’s unclear if more regulations will target other aspects of Vietnam’s internet.