Chat online with pretty girl, lose 1.2 million baht
Young man bought gifts worth 1.2 million baht for pretty girls in iShow app, regrets wasting money, govt agencies to investigate.
Young man bought gifts worth 1.2 million baht for pretty girls in iShow app, regrets wasting money, govt agencies to investigate.
TECHNOLOGY & ENTERTAINMENT
Chat with sexy girl, lose 1.2 million baht
Panel to probe iShow after man spent B1.2 million
27/07/2016
Komsan Tortermvasana
The Thai website or "app" iShow features chats with good-looking young women (see here & YouTube here).
The website is similar to those bars where a man buys a woman a so-called "lady drink" which pays for a chat with her for a period of time.
The difference is that the man buys online gifts (in-app purchases) for the woman which pays for a chat.
Apparently, things get out of hand sometimes and the male customers lose control and start buying expensive gifts for the young women.
Later on, after the thrill of the chat is gone, the male customers apparently feel deep regret that they wasted money and realise the pretty woman will never be their girlfriend.
Video jockeys show how iShow works, on PCs and mobile app. Authorities and internet service providers will investigate whether this needs regulation, after a report that a customer racked up a 1.2 million baht bill buying gifts for his chat partners. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
RECENT HIGH-PROFILE SCANDAL
In a recent high-profile scandal, a young man bought gifts worth 1.2 million baht for women who chatted with him through the iShow app.
Afterwards, he did felt cheated and filed an official complaint with the government.
GOVT JUMPS INTO ACTION & TARGETS ILLEGAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS
Six government agencies have jumped into action in response to the complaint.
A joint panel will be set up with representatives from internet service providers (ISPs) to investigate the legitimacy of the payment system on the iShow mobile application.
The joint panel comprises seven members from: 1. the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), 2. the Bank of Thailand (BOT), 3. the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), 4. the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, 5. the Revenue Department, 6. the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) and 7. a representative of private internet service providers (ISPs).
The investigation will focus on whether iShow holds a licence as an online payment gateway.
If the iShow payment system has no legal licence, this application must be shut down as it violates the Bank of Thailand's payment transfer rule.
The iShow app will be scrutinised by the panel, as there may be other applications in violation of the law.
In fact, almost all apps feature "in-app purchases" and app users are usually not aware of whether the apps are properly licensed to receive "in-app purchases".
When "in-app purchases" first came into use as a way to make money from apps, the parents of many children received huge bills ran up by their child playing games, the government took action to deal with the problem (see here).
Screenshot of iShow website.
ELIMINATING ILLICIT & IMPROPER CONTENT
There is also the issue of what exactly goes on during iShow chats.
Are they simply friendly chats? Or something more?
Does anything improper or illicit happen while chatting, such as a so-called "sex show" ?
Mr Takorn of the NBTC said the joint panel will not only focus on iShow but also monitor other apps in order to prevent or eliminate illicit content.
Mr Takorn said state agencies must cooperate to provide better supervision of improper and illicit content on mobile applications.
"People must understand the risk from unintentionally buying such services," he said.
LAWS ALREADY EXIST THAT CAN BE USEDTO REGULATE APPS
To supervise improper content on mobile applications or websites, Mr Takorn said the meeting agreed that existing ITC laws and regulations have enough power to control the content.
The Electronic Commerce Act prohibits fraud and improper content via e-commerce, while the Computer Crime Act provides safeguards against illicit or indecent internet content.
Mr Takorn said the ICT Ministry can order ISPs and mobile operators through the NBTC to shut down websites or internet gateways that provide improper content, while the TCSD will take legal action under criminal law.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1045365/mobile-apps-face-payment-block
สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/1045746/chat-online-with-pretty-girl-lose-1-2-million-baht
