Vietnam arrests three over US-based porn websites

HANOI - Vietnamese police have detained three officers of a company that ran pornographic websites with servers based in the US, police said Thursday.

Police said the websites also hosted what they called “reactionary” videos produced by “hostile terrorist groups” overseas.

The suspects, Tran Ngo Quy, 25, Dang Bui Phi Hung, 33, and Pham Ba Nhan, 25, have “admitted their crimes”, said police Major General Bui Van Co, director of Vietnam’s Security Department for Information and Communication.

They face charges of “disseminating debauched cultural products”, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Co said Nhan, a computer programmer, launched the website www.phimvang.com in February 2009 as a free streaming video site carrying popular movies, with servers based in the US.

Faced with a low number of viewers, Nhan brought in Hung and added pornographic films to the site, raising page views and advertising revenue. The two men later brought in Quy as company director, and added two more websites.

Police said that in addition to pornographic films, the websites carried political videos critical of Vietnam’s Communist government.

Local media reported the group had earned over 20 million dong (10,500 dollars) from advertising since launching their websites.