Hong Kong Enacts New Anti-Spam Law

On June 1st., Hong Kong enacted a comprehensive law to combat spam and other forms of unsolicited advertising such as pre-recorded voice messages, faxes, and text messages. The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (UEMO) will come into force in two phases. Phase I, which came into effect immediately, prohibits the use of electronic address harvesting software to send commercial messages to recipients without their consent, or to automatically generate electronic addresses to send unsolicited electronic commercial messages. Offences carry a maximu m penalty of a HKD$1 million fine (about CDN$138,000) and five years' imprisonment. UEMO applies only to electronic messages that are for commercial purposes and that have a link to Hong Kong, such as any of the following:

• the message originates from Hong Kong,
• the message is authorized to be sent by a person in Hong Kong or a Hong Kong-based company,
• the message is received in Hong Kong, or
• the message is sent to a Hong Kong telephone number.

Several types of messages are exempted:

• person-to-person communications,
• messages sent with the recipient's prior consent,
• invoices or receipts,
• non-commercial messages, and
• sound or video broadcasts.

Phase II comes into force at the end of 2007 and it establishes a "Do Not Call" list. Citizens can submit their phone and fax numbers if they do not want to receive bulk, unsolicited advertisements. Commercial messages (such as automated phone calls, faxes, video, or text messages) cannot be sent to anyone whose phone or fax numbers are on the Do Not Call list and anyone who sends c ommercial messages to numbers on the Do Not Call list will receive a notice from the government requiring them to stop. Non-compliance could result in a fine of up to HKD$100,000 (about CDN$13,600) for a first offence and higher amounts for subsequent offences. Interestingly, the Hong Kong government decided not to create a "No Spam" e-mail registry because it concluded that such a registry could provide a new source of e-mail addresses for spammers. For more information, see these two news sources: http://tinyurl.com/2o6gzg; and http://tinyurl.com/39hvac For information from the Hong Kong government, visit: http://tinyurl.com/36ppad Summary by: Andrei Edwards