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Late Night Gaming Banned In Vietnam 157

Posted by CmdrTaco from the sleep-is-important dept.
R3d M3rcury writes "Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communication has asked ISPs to block access to on-line games between 10:00PM and 8:00AM. 'The request, made on Wednesday, is another move from the authority to mitigate the side effects of online games. The request follows numerous stiff measures by the ministry to tackle the issue, including cutting internet access to agents at night beginning last September.'"
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Late Night Gaming Banned In Vietnam More

Late Night Gaming Banned In Vietnam

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  • Is it a virus? Is it an alien parasite? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    What has gotten into governments the world over? Why does everyone think you can censor the internet all of a sudden? (Captcha: fascism. No kidding.)

    • I think the reason this is cropping up in different places around the world is that everyone thinks they have an idea of how to "solve the problem" (whichever internet/connectivity-related problem it may be). Now just add ignorance to the mix, and you're got weird regulations. This isn't any form of "malice", it's just non-technical people trying to paw at a laser pointer -- they don't understand the mechanism. The rehabilitation centers for MMORPG addicts in China, South Korea, and Japan, take a more enlig

      • No, the reason it is cropping up is because the US is doing it. Once a leading country does, everyone else points at them as the example. [techdirt.com]

      • The solution is to leave people alone, not ruin something for everyone because of a few idiots. This really doesn't have much to do with non-technical. Even a complete imbecile should be able to see how poor of a 'solution' this is.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by khallow ( 566160 )
      "All of a sudden"? This isn't a change from government as usual. The internet didn't register as something to control before. Governments didn't have the technical capabilities a few years ago. And the media wasn't sensitized to the issue a few years ago.
      • I think he's referring to the fucktard attitude of the poorer dictatorships about the internet, over the past few weeks in particular. Egypt gets protests, they shut down the internet, protests escalate hugely, culminating in a near coup. Libya pretty much preemptively shuts down the internet where there hadn't been much protest, instant riots. It's about dictatorships not understanding the bread and circuses phenomenon.

    • Well they do own the thing. Here's what defines ownership: one who can apply the most force and physically control it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Meski ( 774546 ) *
      and lower-ping and other similar services in nearby countries enjoy a sudden surge in popularity.

  • DONT! DATE! ROBOTS!

  • Price Increase (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 21, 2011 @11:59AM (#35268878)

    And in other news - WoW gold follows Crude Oil and jumps 5% over night :s

  • NOW I understand why I always get a thorough a**-whooping whenever I try playing Battlefield Vietnam.

  • No late-night gaming on the internet? (Score:5, Funny)

    by mrjb ( 547783 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:03PM (#35268926)
    That's a shame. Now children will have to get back to their regular scheduled gambling- and drinking games.

  • Unfair to those who are responsible... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by realsilly ( 186931 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:03PM (#35268930)

    If you're a hard working individual who works 10+ hours a day in Vietnam, you're losing one of those things that allows you some freedom.... your time on the internet during your own free time. I couldn't get to the site to read the article, but my guess it that the ministry is trying to control what people do on the internet, and maybe they can justify their reasoning, but from my perspective, they are overstepping their boundaries.

    Maybe later the website will load and I'll be able to actually read the article.

    • Re:Unfair to those who are responsible... (Score:4, Funny)

      by somersault ( 912633 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:10PM (#35269018) Homepage Journal

      Maybe later the website will load and I'll be able to actually read the article.

      Try coming back around 8AM 'Nam time.

    • Re:Unfair to those who are responsible... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by CaseM ( 746707 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:31PM (#35269306)

      I'll be able to actually read the article.

      This is slashdot. Reading an article is never required to comment on its content.

    • Re:Unfair to those who are responsible... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by causality ( 777677 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:35PM (#35269352)

      but my guess it that the ministry is trying to control what people do on the internet

      That's about the size of it. It's amazing how threatened so many governments feel by the unrestricted free flow of information.

       

      and maybe they can justify their reasoning, but from my perspective, they are overstepping their boundaries.

      Of course they can make justifications (i.e. excuses) for it. Every last fascist, authoritarian, power-tripping fevered ego that ever existed has always had one powerful tool: a well-articulated bureaucracy. The tyrant (which may be a person or an organization) intentionally lies and makes excuses for why it's really an act of overwhelming benevolence. Then the more naive people eat it up and become what are known as "useful idiots".

      We have those in the 'States too. They're generally the ones who don't study much history. When you point out a recurring pattern and explain why it's not a good thing to support, they call you a tinfoil hat-wearing nutter. They think every instance of an organization acting against our interests requires a pre-arranged back-room type of conspiracy, when really all it requires is a lot of selfishness and apathy. They definitely don't say "here is where you are mistaken, and this is my evidence or my sound reasoning". If hardcore tyranny should come to the USA it will be because they and their "we are somehow special, it can't ever never ever happen here so let's get complacent!" attitude played an instrumental role.

      So yes, I am absolutely certain the Vietnamese government will justify (rationalize) their position. That's a prerequisite, a necessary ability they must secure prior to taking an action like this. That is how it has always happened throughout history. Politicians as people generally don't become dictators by openly announcing "hey, I want to be a tyrant, vote for me!" Likewise, governments as organizations don't generally expand their power by saying "we just want to oppress you". It's always for your own good, to protect you from something or another, to deal with some hated enemy, etc.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 1u3hr ( 530656 )

        That's about the size of it. It's amazing how threatened so many governments feel by the unrestricted free flow of information.

        Well, sure, But what has that to do with gaming?

      • Re:Unfair to those who are responsible... (Score:4)

        by DNS-and-BIND ( 461968 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:51PM (#35269500) Homepage
        "Useful idiots"? That means Westerners who were openly sympathetic to the Soviet cause. The Soviets knew their own system well and found it beyond belief that well-off Westerners ached to apply the same system to their own societies. The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for putting a happy face on the Ukrainian genocide, for one example.

    • The Vietnam government can't legislate what people do online. Their attempts to do so will only push people to VPN services. Since you can get an offshore VPN fast enough to play games for just over $3 per month [bouncee.net], the only thing Vietnamese gamers sacrifice will be a little bit of latency.

      You can't control the internet. Someone needs to remind the government of Vietnam that the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems slip through your fingers.

      • You can't control the internet. Someone needs to remind the government of Vietnam that the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems slip through your fingers.

        I love how countless nerds-people who ought to know Star Wars *way* better than I do- use that quote in a similar way to you, yet seem to forget its context and what happened immediately following Leia saying it-

        Tarkin: Princess Leia, before your execution, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.
        Leia: The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

        • Nonetheless, Leia was right. In the wider context, the Death Star itself was destroyed. If they hadn't been so heavy-handed, the Empire would have survived. But they pushed people too far. The Empire caused the rebellion.

          • Nonetheless, Leia was right. In the wider context, the Death Star itself was destroyed. If they hadn't been so heavy-handed, the Empire would have survived. But they pushed people too far. The Empire caused the rebellion.

            Perhaps so, but nevertheless its oft-omitted context would still take the confidence out of the geeky assertion if this was thought about more.

            Well, that and the fact it's from a totally fictitious film and therefore isn't a legitimate example of how the real world works, regardless of how great it sounds to a bunch of nerds :-)

  • BOOM HEADSHOT!

    On a more serious note, these guys are deluding themselves; gamers will for sure soon be setting up secure proxy networks and/or TOR stuff that will then come in handy for plenty of other uses that could well upset the Viet government a whole lot more than gaming....

    • Re:Only one reply possible for the Minister (Score:5, Insightful)

      by somersault ( 912633 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:11PM (#35269028) Homepage Journal

      Gaming over TOR? You'd be better off playing Correspondence Chess via snail mail.

      • >>>better off playing Correspondence Chess via snail mail.

        No-no. Direct dial over the phone line is much faster than snail mail. Heck I used to play Populous over a 2k modem. (No that's not a typo; it really was that slow.) 56k or encrypted TOR is like turbo in comparison and I'd be happy to play over it, if the ISPs go down.

        (If you want to play Populous call me - 560-1750 - LOVE that game.)

      • Several popular MMOs are designed to be used over dial-up connections. I usually run EVE Online via my cell phone tether at about 5KB/s without any issues at all.

        Last I heard WoW was using stupid low bandwidth because everything is pretty much clientside.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sznupi ( 719324 )
          That would be probably cost prohibitive - local dial-up most likely billed by the minute, and while cellular data access seems moderately decent [opera.com] (Part 4) ...both of them will most likely be affected by night ban. Don't get into costs of direct dial to unaffected location...

          But then, the last thing shouldn't stop MMO addicts.

        • Useless for games which require skill over strategy though.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sznupi ( 719324 )
            Well, I did play over cellular (GPRS / EDGE at that) in Diablo II and it was absolutely fine. Gotta try Quake Live...

            ("skill" vs. "strategy"?)

            • Skill as in reactions and aiming vs strategy as in player positioning.. it was still possible to be an okay player on Counter-Strike on a 56k modem vs guys on Broadband, but really the only way to win was by being clever about your positioning, and making good use of your headphones and ability to shoot through solid objects :p I've never used TOR, but I'd think it would add at least 50-100ms to your ping

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by sznupi ( 719324 )
                TOR should add significantly more; very fluctuating and narrow pipe... unusable, overall.
                (and y'know, there's a lot of clickfest in many "strategies" too... even Diablo can be seen as having both aspects ;p )

  • Banning late-night gaming is pretty silly, but I have to admit, it makes me laugh to think of the WOW players sweating the night out.

    World of Warcraft players are ridiculous.

  • The only reason I got up early for school was so that I could get a couple of rounds of counter-strike in. It was also easier to get a slot on my favourite servers.

    • favourite

      You British players are always online early morning when I am up way too late! (Sorry it is a complete inference that you are British)
      Anyway the reason some gamers play late night also is due to available bandwidth - playing during peak hours is not as much fun! (I guess the same applies early morning?)

  • Better gold farm twice as hard to make up for the time you will lose because of said ban.
  • ... shut down your government!
    • I was thinking the same thing: Don't governments want pliant, opiated masses? And aren't video games just about the best antidote to civil unrest? Hell, forget about protesting. Those kids won't even go outside.

      • I think the idea is more nanny-state than tyrant-state. They're trying to help people, in their own unhelpful way.

  • Rescheduling (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mehrotra.akash ( 1539473 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:24PM (#35269228)
    So, now rather than the schedule being something like
    School -> Homework -> Games
    It will be
    School->Games->Homework
    Homework refers to anything productive done..
    So, rather than spending the end of their day gaming, when you would be tired anyways, spend the time when you are not so tired gaming, and the time when you are tired doing productive stuff.
    How is that good??

  • What if I work weird hours and 10PM to 8AM is the only time that I can play because I'm at work or asleep outside of that window?

    In that case they would effectively be banning me from playing games online at all.

  • Proxies.

    no way in hell you can prevent online gaming. see, an example service :

    your-freedom.net is a great proxy that works good with many games, including wow. i had had used it to reduce my ping actually - it halved my ping, since my crappy (then) isp was having huge ping to wow eu servers.

    kids will just use such services, free or paid.
  • the whole country would implode.

  • It's funny - there's this typical consensus on Slashdot that the world would be a better place if only The Smart People were in charge and could make the difficult, unpopular decisions that we need to become a true progressive, multicultural society. Instead, time after time we get uneducated dipshits who make random decisions and let things go to hell because there's no direction or overarching plan to ensure a good outcome. A simple faith that things will turn out all right as long as people do whatever

    • Re:It's for your own good (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 21, 2011 @01:07PM (#35269704)

      What are you talking about? I've lived in Saigon--err, Thành ph H Chí Minh--for the past five years, I know hundreds of students, and I can attest that the party most definitely does _not_ skim off the best and brightest. This notion that a young generation of technocrats is populating the party apparatus is just that--a notion, and a ridiculous one at that. Smart kids with money go overseas for school, smart locals stuck here goto UTech, FTU or National, and no young person with a brain thinks to join the party--at least not in the cities. It might be a little different in the middle of nowhere--Ca Mau or somesuch--but hereabouts, and in Hanoi as well, the party is a dumping ground for risk adverse types looking to grind away at dull jobs for a decade or so, earning $100/month, until they're finally connected enough to begin sitting on committees and learning where the next zoned industrial areas will be--at which point the family cashes in big time.

      • So Party members defer instant gratification and instead work towards long-term goals. That's the definition of smart right there. Then there's the issue of working yourself into a position where you can use your intellect to benefit others which we call altruism. Again, a trait that the smart people share.

        • So Party members defer instant gratification and instead work towards long-term goals. That's the definition of smart right there.

          Then there's the issue of working yourself into a position where you can use your intellect to benefit others which we call altruism. Again, a trait that the smart people share.

          Altruism is not correlated positively or negatively with intelligence.

          See 'The Ways and Powers of Love: types, factors and techniques of moral Transformation' which summarizes some of the relevant research.

          I realize you are likely just a troll, but thought I'd correct your disinformation.

    • There is indeed a problem and that is that some countries are experiencing a different evolution then others. But no American can ever understand that there are other parts of the world that are not the US. Just doesn't fit their head.

      The problem is simple. In the west, we had this kind of thing as well and FAR FAR worse. No gaming after 8? Try being send down the coal mines or to scurry between open machines from the moment you can walk. Our industrial revolution was NOT a great moment in human history. W

      • I, for one, measure the success of a country not on its economic or military power, but by the freedoms its people are able to enjoy responsibly. We aren't here on this Earth to make more widgets than the next guy. We're here to enjoy life. A government that dominates its people's time is a government that has failed to protect it's people's freedom to be happy.

      • You just highlighted the real issue. "Smart" people thinking they know what's best for everyone else. In America or is Vietnam it's all the same. Fucking nannies all around. Let me live my life.

        • Amen to that. Ironically, it takes a well educated person to string together a list of random facts/preconceptions into a compelling tale about why the world would be better if only we could see the world the same way as them. But the same clever people cannot deign to see the world through someone else's perspective. It always ends up being "don't you get it, you idiots? XYZ is a brilliant plan. I just need some power to implement it. Now bend over..."

    • "Smart people" wouldn't try to ban something for everyone because of what a few idiots do. They're not "smart people," they're the average ignorant politicians.

  • And nothing will change (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Vietnamese here. It is just another law that nobody cares about in Vietnam. Remember the law that mandate FOSS usage back in 2008? Nothing has changed since then. Well, maybe the internet shop will have to bribe the local police more, but that is it. Online gaming has bad effect on the youth, that is true to some degree, but people are blaming too many things on it, so the government tries to show that it is doing something. And the fact that they ban it means they failed to control it.
    PS: Online FPS in Vie

  • The government knows best, right? Right?

  • Retired people and students can (and do) play 18+ hours a day.

    I always wished there was a game I could subscribe to that you could only play 4 hours a day (and maybe less than 100 hours a month to force you to take days off).

    Or that they would limit leveling rate, regardless of how many hours you played, you could only pop "x" levels per month.

    It would help them with game balance and content creation too. As players' wouldn't be max level 12 hours after the new expansion came out.

    • Keep an eye out for free to play games. These two are probably a different genre than you want, but League of Legends has a "first win" bonus, such that with 1-2 hours of play you'll have collected a big bonus and can't collect it again for another day. Bloodline Champions has a bonus pool that triples your earnings until you exhaust it, and that resets daily. It takes about an hour to work through that. You can still play the game afterwards for rewards and fun play, but exhausting that bonus makes for a n

  • While they are at it they can install an internet kill switch.

  • Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton will love this. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by X86Daddy ( 446356 ) on Monday February 21, 2011 @02:41PM (#35270892) Journal

    Joe Lieberman and/or Hillary Clinton will clamor for the same in our "free" country next, because they think it's just no fair that these other countries get to wreck their people's computer use while the US citizens have no such interference.

    Lieberman's "kill switch" request and the two of them grandstanding over the Grand Theft Auto Hot Coffee mod showed them to be exactly this disgusting and sinister, belonging absolutely nowhere near having domestic powers in the "land of the free."

    And those two are just the obvious and outspoken ones...

  • the least they could do is provide a method for some people to be cleared for such game play. Dont get me wrong, this is all rather distgusting... but if the aim is to limit the amount of MMO exposure people get, then those who work/commute all day will be limited to 0. even more, i can't imagine this being aimed at anything other than children/young adults (<25 ?)

    besides, how do they intend on dealing with proxies? it all seems kind of pointless considering that anyone can get around it by proxys

  • I found this news especially amusing because I'm in the middle of organizing and running a 3-day non stop gaming lan-party and some players here haven't slept for more than 36 hours now:) What exactly are those horrific side effects of on-line gaming gaming they are so worried about?

    On the other hand. This is a interesting way to get them from gaming on-line, since they're gaming over lan so it's not really on-line gaming is it :) Maybe they should include this in their school curriculum or something.

    This!

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