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The high level task force set up to advise Government on policies and measures to tackle the problem of unsolicited electronic messages held its first meeting today (January 15).
The task force is chaired by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Frederick Ma, with members and representatives drawn from the information and communications technology industry, chambers of commerce, telemarketing industry, consumer groups, social services organisations and individual members from the community.
"Combating the spamming problem requires concerted efforts of the community. With representation from different stakeholders from the community, the task force provides a useful platform to share and exchange views on how to further tackle the problem of spamming," Mr Ma said.
"I am glad that we had a constructive discussion at our first meeting. I look forward to working with all members closely to address the problem of unsolicited electronic messages. We will follow up the views expressed by the members at the meeting," he added.
At today's meeting, members were briefed on the implementation of the Unsolicited Electronic Message Ordinance (UEMO) since its first phase implementation in June 2007.
Members noted that upon the full commencement of the UEMO on December 22 last year, the operation of the do-not-call registers has been smooth. Two of the three do-not-call registers have been launched, with more than 26,000 numbers registered onto the do-not-call register for fax and more than 28,000 numbers registered onto the do-not-call register for short messages.
Members also noted that since the first phase of the UEMO came into effect in June 2007 up to early January 2008, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) had received a total of some 1,500 reports. There has been no surge of reports since the full implementation of the UEMO last December. In addition, most of the reports received during the first phase of implementation were not related to the UEMO or the provisions which have been in force. OFTA, as the enforcement agency of the UEMO, will follow up the reports and conduct investigations where necessary.
Members of the task force also exchanged views on other, non-legislative measures to combat spamming, including education, encouraging the use of technical solutions and enhancing international co-operation.
The non-official members of the Anti-Spamming Task Force are as follows:
- Mr York Mok, Chairman, Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association
- Mr Daniel Ng, President, Hong Kong Information Technology Federation Ltd.
- Mr Gilbert Chan, President of Internet Service and Content Provider Group, Communications Association of Hong Kong
- Mr Alex Fong, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
- Dr David Kam, Chairman, Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Development Association
- Ms Kay Bayliss, Director, Asia Digital Marketing Association
- Mr K M Yim, Chairperson, Hong Kong Institute of Marketing
- Ms Connie Lau, Chief Executive, Consumer Council
- Mr Timothy Ma Kam Wah, representative from Telecommunications Users and Consumers Advisory Committee of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority
- Dr John Fung Yat Chu, Director of Information Technology Resource Centre, Hong Kong Council of Social Service
- Mr Sin Chung-kai, Member of the Legislative Council (IT Functional Constituency)
- Dr Xu Yan, Associate Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Relevant government departments, including OFTA, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, and the Trade and Industry Department are represented on the task force.
Background
It is one of the initiatives in the 2007 Policy Agenda to set up an Anti-Spamming Task Force comprising representatives from various sectors of the community, including chambers of commerce, electronic marketing industry associations, electronic communications industry associations, consumer groups and the Legislative Council. The objective of the task force is to assist the Government to monitor the effectiveness of the legislation as well as other measures in combating the problem of spamming. The task force will also advise the Government on strategies to further tackle the problem of unsolicited electronic messages and to enhance community awareness of the rights and responsibilities of senders and recipients.
The UEMO, which aims to regulate the sending of all forms of commercial electronic messages with "Hong Kong link", came into full force on December 22, 2007. It establishes the rules for sending commercial electronic messages including providing accurate sender information and unsubscribe facilities as well as the establishment of the do-not-call registers. The UEMO also prohibits professional spamming activities such as the use of unscrupulous means to gather/generate recipient lists for sending commercial electronic messages, and fraudulent activities related to the sending of multiple commercial electronic messages.
Ends/Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:05
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