HK Government To Act On Spam, Intellectual Property

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

24 May 2006

Speaking on Monday, Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Joseph Wong revealed that a bill aiming to tackle so-called 'junk' email and phone calls will be submitted to the Legislative Council in June or July, and stated that the Bureau has submitted an amended bill on the Copyrights Ordinance to LegCo, enhancing protection of intellectual rights in Hong Kong.

Speaking on an RTHK programme on Monday morning, Mr Wong said the proposed anti-spam bill would impose a fine on anyone who repeatedly makes unsolicited phone calls or sends unwanted email, causing a nuisance to the public.

A complainant will be able to report nuisance cases to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority, which will then contact the relevant senders to stop their unwanted deluge of messages, he announced.

With regard to increasing intellectual protections in the SAR, Mr Wong revealed that the Commerce, Industry & Technology bureau will join hands with the Customs & Excise Department and the Intellectual Property Department to launch a publicity campaign on intellectual property protection next week.

The campaign will appeal to parents to co-operate in guarding their children against downloading proprietary content from the web, and highlight the around-the-clock internet surveillance Customs undertakes.

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