Decree No. 150/2018/ND-CP Amending Certain Decrees Related to Investment Conditions and Administrative Procedures in the Information and Communications Sector

DECREE

Amending certain Decrees related to investment conditions and business operations
and administrative procedures in the field of information and communications
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Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Enterprise Law dated November 26, 2014;

Pursuant to the Investment Law dated November 26, 2014 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Article 6 and Appendix 4 on the List of Business Fields Subject to Investment Conditions of the Investment Law dated November 22, 2016;

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to the Law on Telecommunications dated November 23, 2009;

Pursuant to the Postal Law dated June 17, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Publishing dated November 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Press dated April 5, 2016;

At the proposal of the Minister of Information and Communications;

The Government promulgates this Decree amending certain Decrees related to investment conditions and business operations and administrative procedures in the field of information and communications.

Article 1. Amending and abolishing some provisions of Decree No. 195/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 21, 2013 of the Government detailing some provisions and implementing measures of the Publishing Law as follows:

b) Deputy Commanders and Deputy Political Commissars of Militia and Self-Defense Forces units at the commune level; Deputy Commanders and Deputy Political Commissars of Militia and Self-Defense Forces units under agencies and organizations; Company Commanders and Political Commissars of companies; Flotilla Commanders and Political Commissars of flotillas; Squadron Commanders and Political Commissars of squadrons of permanent Militia and Self-Defense Forces; Deputy Company Commanders and Deputy Political Commissars of mobile Militia and Self-Defense Forces companies: VND 514,800;

"a) The application for a license to establish a representative office in Vietnamese (if the application is in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a certified translation into Vietnamese) shall be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communications and shall include: Application for a license; confirmation document from the competent authority of the country where the headquarters is located certifying that the publisher or organization distributing publications is legally operating; certified copy or copy and original presentation for verification of a bachelor's degree or higher, criminal record certificate, and household registration or other documents proving permission to reside permanently in Vietnam issued by a competent Vietnamese authority;"

b) Amending Point b of Clause 1 as follows:

"b) Within twenty days from the date of receipt of complete application, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall issue a license to establish a representative office; if the license is not granted, a written response stating the reasons must be provided."

"In case the application is submitted via the Internet or postal service but does not comply with the prescribed format or is incomplete, within three working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Ministry of Information and Communications (Publishing, Printing and Distribution Department) must notify and provide detailed guidance through one of the following methods: telephone, email, or fax."

"The license to establish a representative office has a validity period of five years from the date of issuance and may be renewed, with each renewal not exceeding five years."

2. Amend Point c Clause 2 Article 7 as follows:

"c) Within seven working days from the date of receipt of complete application, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall reissue or extend the license; if the license is not reissued or extended, a written response stating the reasons must be provided."

3. Amend Point a Clause 1 Article 8 as follows:

"a) The headquarters of the publisher shall have an appropriate area size, meeting the legal standards for office space usage;"

4. Amend Clause 1 of Article 9 as follows:

a) Amend point a, Clause 1 as follows:

"a) Before appointing the general manager (director) or chief editor of the publisher, the managing body must submit a dossier to the Ministry of Information and Communications. The dossier shall include: Request for approval of appointment; brief resume of the proposed appointee; certified copy or copy and original presentation for verification of a bachelor's degree or higher of the proposed appointee;"

b) Amend point c, Clause 1 as follows:

"c) Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the managing body’s dossier of the publisher, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall issue a written approval or disapproval of the appointment, dismissal, or removal of the general manager (director) or chief editor of the publisher."

5. Amend Point b Clause 2 Article 13 as follows:

"b) For proof of production premises: Certified copy or copy and original presentation for verification of land use right certificate or lease agreement or other documents proving the allocation, leasing of land, premises, or factory for production."

6. Amend Clause 2, Clause 3 Article 14 as follows:

a) Amend Point b Clause 2 as follows:

"b) Within twenty days from the date of receipt of complete application, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall issue a license for importing publications; if the license is not granted, a written response stating the reasons must be provided."

b) Amend point b of Clause 3 as follows:

"b) Within seven working days from the date of receipt of complete application, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall reissue the license for importing publications; if the license is not reissued, a written response stating the reasons must be provided."

7. Amend Article 17 as follows:

a) Amend point a, Clause 1 as follows:

"a) Have servers located in Vietnam;"

b) Amend Clause 2 as follows:

"2. Technical human resource standards for managing and overseeing the publication and distribution of electronic publications as stipulated in Point a Clause 1 and Point a Clause 2 Article 45 of the Publishing Law are specified as follows:

Trained in information technology."

c) Amend Point b Clause 3 as follows:

"b) Have technical solutions to prevent unauthorized access through the Internet;"

8. Amend Point b Clause 2 Article 18 as follows:

"b) Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the application for publishing and distributing electronic publications, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall inspect the implementation of the project and issue a written confirmation of registration for publishing and distributing electronic publications; if the registration is not confirmed, a written response stating the reasons must be provided;"

9. Abolish some clauses and points of Decree No. 195/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 21, 2013 of the Government detailing some provisions and implementing measures of the Publishing Law as follows:

a) Abolish Point c Clause 1 Article 6;

b) Abolish Clause 3 Article 8;

c) Abolish Points b, c, e Clause 1 Article 17;

d) Abolish Point a Clause 3 Article 17;

đ) Abolish Clause 5 Article 17.

1. Amend Clause 2 of Article 23a as follows:

"2. Have at least one staff member managing content information and one staff member managing technical matters."

2. Amend certain Clauses of Article 23b as follows:

a) Amending Clause 3 as follows:

"3. Websites and social networks of the same organization or business shall not use the same domain name with identical character sequences (including subdomains, for example: forum.vnn.vn, news.vnn.vn are domain names with different character sequences)."

b) Amend Clause 4 as follows:

"4. Domain names must comply with regulations on management and use of Internet resources. For international domain names, there must be confirmation of lawful use of domain names."

3. Amend certain Clauses of Article 32a as follows:

a) Amend Clause 1 as follows:

"1. Have a main office with a clear address and contact telephone number that can be reached."

b) Amend Clause 2 as follows:

"2. Have at least one staff member managing online games."

4. Amend Point b Clause 3 of Article 33 as follows:

"b) Have at least one staff member managing online games."

5. Repeal certain Clauses and Points of Government Decree No. 72/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 15, 2013 on management, provision, and use of Internet services and information on networks, which has been amended and supplemented by Government Decree No. 27/2018/NĐ-CP dated March 1, 2018 amending and supplementing certain Articles of Government Decree No. 72/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 15, 2013 on management, provision, and use of Internet services and information on networks, as follows:

a) Repeal Point b Clause 2 of Article 14;

b) Repeal Point b Clause 2 of Article 15;

c) Repeal Clause 2 of Article 32b;

d) Repeal Clause 3 of Article 32d;

đ) Repeal Point e Clause 4 of Article 32d;

e) Repeal Clause 4 of Article 33.

Article 3. Repeal certain Articles and Clauses of Government Decree No. 102/2009/NĐ-CP dated November 6, 2009 on management of investment in application of information technology using state budget funds, as follows:

1. Repeal Clause 1 of Article 60.

2. Repeal Article 61.

3. Repeal Article 62.

4. Repeal Article 63.

5. Repeal Article 64.

6. Repeal Article 65.

7. Repeal Article 66.

8. Repeal Article 67.

9. Repeal Article 68.

10. Repeal Article 69.

11. Repeal Article 70.

12. Repeal Article 71.

13. Repeal Article 72.

Article 4. Repeal certain Articles and Points of Government Decree No. 47/2011/NĐ-CP dated June 17, 2011 detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Postal Law, as follows:

1. Repeal Point c Clause 3 of Article 11.

2. Repeal Point b Clause 2 of Article 12.

3. Repeal Article 18.

Article 5. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from December 24, 2018.

Article 6. Implementation Organization

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial people's committees under central cities, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Decree./.