Vietnam ministry proposes fines for resale of shared Netflix, Spotify accounts

The draft regulation on administrative sanctions in cybersecurity and personal data protection is open for public comment from March 16 to Thursday.

Under the proposal, individuals who trade shared or ‘family’ accounts of paid digital services without authorization could face fines of between VND25 million ($949) and VND50 million.

The buying and selling of shared digital accounts at discounted prices is common in Vietnam, where individuals often split subscription packages into multiple slots for resale to other users.

The draft also sets similar penalties for operating websites that infringe copyright for profit through advertising, as well as for setting up online platforms used for illegal gambling or hosting pornographic content.

Other violations subject to the proposed fines include providing technology services that support the distribution of explicit content, posting information about illegal drug sales online, and offering hosting or domain services to websites carrying prohibited content without regular monitoring.