Official proposal to abolish the crime of 'internet business leads to imprisonment'

The crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunications networks (Article 292, Penal Code) has just been proposed by the Government to be removed in a submission to the National Assembly.

According to the content of the Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code presented by Minister of Justice - Le Thanh Long at the National Assembly on the morning of October 21, the draft Law proposed to remove Article 292 of the 2015 Penal Code - which stipulates the crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunications networks.

According to the report, the crime of providing illegal services on computer networks and telecommunications networks (Article 292) is one of 10 crimes in the field of information technology and telecommunications networks stipulated in the 2015 Penal Code.

However, the provisions on the composition of this crime do not clearly reflect the danger to public safety, but in fact this is the composition of the crime of "illegal business" on the Internet environment. In essence, this is an economic crime but is placed in the chapter "crimes against public safety and public order".

Furthermore, the list of conditional business lines has up to 267 occupations and jobs... so only stipulating that online business is subject to criminal penalties is unreasonable.“Thus, there is inequality and inconsistency. Therefore, considering the context of the crime of illegal business being abolished, Article 292 should also be abolished,” said Minister Le Thanh Long.

The Minister of Justice also said that during the process of drafting the Law, there were opinions that it was necessary to have the 2015 Penal Code stipulate the content of Article 292. However, it is necessary to consider narrowing the scope of this crime to be more appropriate, at least to cover illegal gold trading or illegal multi-level marketing on the Internet, making huge illegal profits.

Examining this bill, Chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee - Le Thi Nga said that the majority of opinions in the examining body agreed to remove Article 292.

However, there are suggestions to criminally prosecute the acts of gold trading on accounts, illegal multi-level marketing... on the internet due to the scope of influence, nature and high level of danger to society.The criminalization of these acts needs to be considered in order to define the crime and the penalty framework, ensuring strictness.

"These are issues related to specialized State management and the review process has recommendations from the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Therefore, the proposal requires an official viewpoint from the Government," Ms. Nga stated her opinion.

According to VNE