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Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (October 24):
Question:
In recent years, Internet computer services centres (commonly known as "Internet cafes") have become one of the major places of leisure for young people and students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the year-end number of Internet cafes and the annual number of inspections of such premises by law enforcement officers in each of the past three years;
(b) of the respective numbers of cases in which the persons in charge or customers of such premises were prosecuted and convicted over the past three years, together with a breakdown by the offences involved and the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons; and
(c) given that Internet games and computer games may contain such objectionable contents as obscenity, gambling and violence, whether it has considered introducing legislation, with reference to relevant legislation in neighbouring regions, to regulate the operation of Internet cafes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Statistics kept by the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) reveal that the number of Internet computer services centres (ICSC) (commonly known as "Internet cafes") was about 210 in the past three years, fewer than that in 2003 which was about 300.
At present, the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) conducts inspections at ICSC to enforce the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, and the number of inspections conducted in the past three years is as follows:
2005 2006 2007 (January to September)
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2,257 2,579 1,981
Upon receipt of complaints, other relevant government departments (including Fire Services Department (FSD), Buildings Department (BD) and Environmental Protection Department (EPD) etc.) will also take follow up actions including site inspections as necessary to ensure that the operator has complied with the requirements under the relevant legislation relating to fire safety, buildings safety and environmental protection etc. In the past three years (up to June 2007), relevant government departments received a total of 24 complaints involving ICSC and they were mainly related to noise, fire safety and suspected infringement of copyright etc.
(b) According to the statistics kept by the FSD, BD, EPD and TELA, in the past three years (up to June 2007), no ICSC operator was prosecuted for breach of the ordinances enforced by these departments. As regards offences under other legislation, the Administration does not keep separate statistics on the prosecutions and convictions of the persons-in-charge or customers of ICSC.
(c) ICSC generally refers to premises providing computers and related equipment to customers for using Internet services. The mode of operation and the types of services provided by ICSC are quite diverse, including personal communication centre, network games and browsing of magazine/news on the Internet. In 2002, the HAB consulted the public (including District Councils) on the regulation of ICSC. The general views were that Government should not adopt a licensing system lest this would hinder the development of the trade. In August 2003, the HAB issued the "Code of Practice for Internet Computer Services Centres Operators" (the Code) to provide guidelines on fire and building safety, noise control, public order and crime prevention, Internet content, smoking, ventilation and hygiene for voluntary compliance by the operators. The HAB reviewed the situation of compliance with the Code in 2004 and found that the operation of ICSC was generally in compliance with the requirements of the Code. The Government currently has no plan to introduce legislation to regulate ICSC.
Ends/Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:37
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