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Shutting down of six Internet access providers
Following is a question by the Hon Simon Ip Sik-on and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Gordon Siu, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the reasons for the recent raiding and shutting down of six Internet access providers in the territory and why it was considered that those reasons were significant enough to justify such a potentially costly disruption of the exchange of academic and commercial information through on-line services?
Reply:
During the past few months the Royal Hong Kong Police Force's Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) has been investigating a number of cases involving computer hacking (unauthorised access to a computer system via a telecommunication device). In co-operation with overseas law enforcers the CCB established that the hacker or hackers have been entering the Internet system via service providers in Hong Kong and from there to overseas computer systems.
Through contact with the Office of the Telecommunication Authority (OFTA) the CCB established that of the nine Internet service providers in Hong Kong seven were operating without the required licence, in contravention of section 8 of the Telecommunication Ordinance. While OFTA was aware of this situation and was in discussion with the service providers to regularise it, the view of the CCB, supported by legal advice, was that they were duty bound to take action. The reasons were to stop the continuing offences of operating without a licence and to prevent the unlicensed service providers from providing a platform for the computer hackers to commit further offences. If the service providers had been licensed the CCB would have approached them for co-operation in investigating the computer hacking offences. However, as the service providers were unlicensed and thus of unknown probity the CCB considered it entirely inappropriate to seek such co-operation and there was no alternative but to close the operations, in order to prevent further offences from taking place.
End/Wednesday, March 29, 1995