Hong Kong drafts first anti-spam law

Hong Kong is readying its first anti-spam laws, promising fines and long prison terms for serious offenders.

The Chinese territory currently has no laws specifically outlawing junk email, and recent surveys looking at the sources of spam have included Hong Kong and China among the worst in the world. 

The proposed new law appears to threaten companies which knowingly use spammers to market their products if they are based in, or do business in, Hong Kong.

It may also allow action against individuals who authorise spam campaigns if they are in Hong Kong at the time the spam is sent.

The legislation has been designed to work with international anti-spam efforts. "The law covers all electronic messages with a Hong Kong connection. If it originated from Hong Kong, or is sent to Hong Kong, it is within the ambit of the bill," said Joseph Wong, Hong Kong's secretary for commerce, industry and technology.

"In so far as enforcement against those acts which originate from overseas, we would have to rely on our enforcement agencies working with enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions."

The government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory has not yet released the full text of its proposed Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill, but earlier comments and presentations by officials outline much of its content. 

The law is intended to be open ended, covering all present and future forms of electronic communication, including telephone, fax and instant messaging as well as email.

See also:

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Spam King Wallace loses court battle

Federal Trade Commission claims decisive victory in battle against spam  08 May 2006

Microsoft pushes Sender ID anti-spam

2.2m internet domains currently publish Sender ID records, company boasts  19 Apr 2006

China outlaws Outlook

Unlicensed email servers illegal under new rule  14 Apr 2006

China's spam bill soars to $760m

Every surfer receives an average 20 spam emails a week  24 Mar 2006

Spam dominated Christmas email

Spammers are finding new ways to annoy us  16 Mar 2006

Taxing times ahead as spam soars

Huge rise in 'tax planning offers' as financial year-end nears  09 Mar 2006

Spam Cube squares up to phishers

Small appliance has built-in anti-spam technology  09 Mar 2006

How to take spam off the menu

Digital certificates may be better than email tariffs at curbing spam and other online menaces  13 Feb 2006

Japan leads the way in spam relay prevention

Surprisingly low ranking in the spam charts could be down to port 25 block  10 Feb 2006

UK admits failure on spam

No prosecutions against spammers in 2005 despite some 364 complaints  09 Feb 2006

Industry should unite to can spam

Do not simply accept spam as if there is nothing to be done about it  08 Feb 2006

US Supreme Court rules on spam case

No right to send unsolicited messages  11 Jan 2006

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