Hong Kong IT Group Calls For Anti-Spam Legislation

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

07 August 2003

The Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA), Microsoft, and several industry associations have come together under the auspices of the Anti-Spam Coalition to call for tougher legislation in order to stem the flow of unsolicited commercial e-mail.

The call for new laws follows the Office of the Telecommunications Authority's recent announcement that legislation could be a viable option in the fight against spam.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post on Tuesday, Chairman of the HKISPA, York Mok, revealed that the problem is now so bad in Hong Kong that many ISP subscribers have expressed a desire to abandon e-mail altogether, and return to communicating primarily via telephone and fax.

He also explained that the storage facilities, access time, and international connections used by ISPs are being clogged by the volume of spam:

'ISPs are probably the one point in the chain that suffers the most,' he mused.

Also speaking to the SCMP, Jeff Bullwinkel, senior corporate lawyer for the Far East with Microsoft, pledged the software giant's full support for any new legislation in this area.

He went on to suggest that measures along the lines of those being considered in the United States - such as heavy penalties for spammers, the carrying of 'ADV' label in the subject line for commercial e-mail, and an 'opt in' requirement for all mailing lists- may be necessary.

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