The Ministry of Information and Communications on November 1 issued Circular No. 33/2011/TT-BTTTT to detail the issuance of licenses for online newspaper operation and licenses for online news pages, which will take effect in January 1, 2012.
According to the new regulation, a license for online newspaper operation will be valid for 10 years from the date of grant. The validity duration of a license for an online news page is stated in such license but must not exceed the validity duration of the granted license for online newspaper operation.
Ninety days after an online newspaper operation license or online news page license becomes valid, if the licensed institution fails to commence its operation, the granted license will cease to be valid.
An institution wishing to be licensed for online newspaper operation must fully meet eight conditions, such as having sufficient qualified staff; having identified the name of the online newspaper; having a charter, purposes, service subjects and language used by the online newspaper agency; using at least one domain name “.vn” which remains valid for 6 months at the time of licensing; having elaborated the management process suitable to the online newspaper model, etc.
An online newspaper agency wishing to add specialized online news pages not subject to the online newspaper operation license must carry out procedures for license application.
Within 30 days after receiving a valid dossier, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information must consider granting a license. In case of refusal of licensing, it must issue a reply clearly stating the reason.-