Business Beat
Local businesses wanting their own websites now have to choose between one of two options: designing a dynamic website with frequent information updates that requires a licence, or be satisfied with a website that doesn’t get updated so they won’t have to apply for a licence.According to the latest Internet regulations, the Ministry of Culture and Information requires organisations and businesses to obtain a licence before they can post information on the Internet. Subsequent information from the Ministry has made it clear that any website with frequently updated content falls into this category. Out of about 2,500 current Vietnamese websites, only 50 have received some sort of licence from the ministry. Websites run by individuals don’t need a licence.
Obtaining a licence is no big deal, but the requirement seems unnecessary - giving birth to yet another business licence regime. The ministry has repeatedly said it won’t exercise control over website information, which remains the responsibility of the owners and hosts. Thus, all the information required in the licence could be obtained at the time the domain name is registered.
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The news the Government might soon ban new motorcycles in Ha Noi and HCM City has been surprisingly well received, judging by opinions voiced in the local press. But it is not that difficult to understand how most people have become frustrated with their own motorbikes. Suffering from chronic traffic jams, they would be happy to see less motorcycles on the streets. Those who don’t yet own a motorbike either do not need one or can’t afford one. Even people who want to buy new motorbikes would prefer riding on streets that have fewer motorbikes.
It would be more meaningful to ask the people whose motorbikes are already plying the streets if they would be willing to give them up. Without adequate public transport, people have few alternatives for travelling to work, or taking their children to school.
At the same time, the need to limit the number of motorbikes in the larger cities is real. Without some limitations it will be faster to walk than to ride a motorbike in five or ten years from now. The only way out is to raise the amount charged for new motorbike registration. Even existing owners should pay an annual fee to use their bikes. Parking fees should be raised, especially for parking places close to the city centre. Big cities could start banning motorbikes from some streets in downtown areas and impose heavy fines on illegal parking in front of shops and on footpaths.
The money collected could then be used to develop public transport systems that really work. only then would people be discouraged from owning motorbikes and start choosing buses.
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So far, the Viet Nam National Office of Industrial Property has received about 9,900 applications for patents and 850 applications for "useful solutions". Applications from local organisations and individuals, however, account for only 13 per cent of these. This is a big improvement over the previous five-year period when the proportion of local applications was just 5 per cent. Most of the applicants are foreign companies wanting to protect their patents, or solutions, in Viet Nam.
The lack of interest from local businesses is particularly surprising given the recent spate of trademarks and patents being stolen in foreign markets. Most Vietnamese companies are small and don’t have the resources to apply for patent protection. Often, the patents they own are developed from existing ones with a few minor adjustments.
But useful solutions are not considered exclusive to Viet Nam. In the production process, any improvements in manufacturing will sooner or later be applied elsewhere without anybody able to claim exclusive ownership.
There’s another reason for continuing industrial property violations here – it is costly to file a complaint and pursue a case all the way to a winning verdict. In one case affecting a local company, its patent might be withdrawn after the owner filed a complaint following the authorities’ discovery that the disputed patent was a direct copy of a foreign one. — VNS
