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Mr President, we have done so. We have carefully considered the views expressed by right owners and exclusive licensees who generally favour maintaining both criminal sanctions and civil remedies. We have also considered the views expressed by the retail trade and consumer welfare groups who wish to see the removal of all criminal and civil actions against parallel imports. We have concluded that in the absence of any international standard or consensus on how parallel imports should be regulated, the best approach for Hong Kong is to decriminalise parallel importation but to maintain civil remedies. We believe that this would strike the right balance between protecting the interests of right owners and exclusive licensees on the one hand, and those of consumers and retailers on the other.
We are aware of the concerns expressed that importation rights in respect of copyright works could possibly be extended to apply to trademark goods or goods incorporating registered designs which are also incidentally capable of copyright protection. We shall continue to consider how to limit the chances of any possible broad application of copyright to prevent parallel importation of other types of goods. If further proposals come forward which meet the special needs of Hong Kong and can go further towards harmonising opposing views, we shall continue to consider them carefully.
Thirdly, we propose to protect the interests of right owners in the digital environment. Following a conference organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva last December, a general consensus has been reached on this matter. We have accordingly included in the Copyright Bill provisions to reflect this consensus, which embodies the guiding principle that the rights of copyright owners must be suitably balanced against the reasonable expectations of all users of the Internet and Hong Kong's Internet service providers. Expert advice during the public consultation has been very valuable in this difficult area, and I wish to express my gratitude to those who shared their expertise with us.
Fourthly, at present licensees of Satellite Master Antenna Television (SMATV) systems may re-transmit non-encrypted satellite broadcasts without infringing copyright, by reason of exemptions in the present law and their licences. We propose to remove those exemptions, and enable satellite broadcasters to withhold copyright permission to re-transmit non-encrypted signals, or to impose copyright royalties or conditions for such re-transmission. This is consistent with our commitment and international obligation to protect intellectual property rights, and would enable Hong Kong to become a more attractive place as a regional media hub.