Vietnam to Shut Down Late Night Cyber Cafes

In recent years there have been a number of gaming related deaths. These deaths weren’t the results of violence, but of people who would sit down to play StarCraft* and never get up. Not for food, nor for the restroom. They got up for nothing.

In an attempt to curtail this kind of behavior, Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication has asked Internet Service Providers in the country to block any and all access to online games between 10:00pm and 8:00am local time. Of course, when they use the term “ask,” they mean “do it or we’ll shut you down.” From Deputy Minister Le Nam Thang:

Provincial departments of information and communication will inspect online games activities nationwide and deal with organizations that violate regulations by canceling their services.

According to the Ministry, roughly 26% of the country’s population has Internet access. As someone who works during the day and is an insomniac and thereore up late into the night, I would be furious.

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*StarCraft is merely an example game, and was not intended to imply any addictive properties with the game itself.