Nguoi Viet, News Report, Posted: Sep 09, 2010

Hanoi authorities have identified 204 gaming shops to be disconnected from Internet service providers as they are located too close to schools. The Department of Information and Communications asked Internet service providers to pull the plug on the shops by the end of August.

The move followed the issuance of a new ordinance that established a 200-meter Internet cafe-free boundary around schools. Late last month, the city closed the first shop, which was located opposite a nursery school, before conducting joint inspections with Internet suppliers of shops in all parts of the city.

All districts in the city, except for Thanh Oai, have been found to be in violation of the regulation. Most of the shops' clientele are children and teenagers who play online games.

Vietnam is now ranked 20th of countries with the highest Internet usage.