Filed at 9:40 a.m. ET

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam has issued new rules requiring businesses and organizations to get government permission before setting up new Web sites, an official said Monday.

Worried by the increasing numbers of Vietnamese with access to news from outside sources, officials have been trying to tighten their control over the Internet.

The government recently ordered that owners of the country's estimated 4,000 Internet cafes be held responsible for controlling their clients' Web surfing.

In March, police arrested physician Pham Hong Son for translating and posting an article on democracy from a U.S. State Department Web site and posting it on the Internet.

In August, the government shut down an online political forum, TTVNOnline.com, for posting information critical of the government.

The Ministry of Culture and Information, which issued the new rules, did not divulge the penalties for breaking them.

Under current law, however, Internet offenses in the tightly controlled communist country are punishable by fines of up to $3,250 or up to three years in jail.