TNAG-0265-FCO40-301-Legislation-for-copyright-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 61

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

W(B)L 51-7406

CONFIDENTIAL

may, through business interests, be

connected with that Company.

Communal Aerials System

33. It is agreed by legal advisers,

here and in Hong Kong, that the terms of

RTV's licence can be construed as

conferring an exclusive right to

establish and operate special aerial

systems, both CATV and ADS; and that

the Hong Kong Government has the

power to cancel RTV's licence in the public

interest under the terms of the

Telecommunications Ordinance. In proposing

to withdraw this exclusive right so far

as the ADS system is concerned, the

Hong Kong Government is relying primarily

on the argument that the public interest

requires the breaking of RTV's monopoly

under which RTV could exercise a

measure of control over the transmission

of its competitors Rs. A secondary

reason is that RTV acquired these rights

accidentally.

34. The licence gives RTV the exclusive

right to establish and operate these

aerial systems as a service to the public.

An individual or a group of individuals

jointly could establish and operate such

aerial systems for their own use and this

would not fall within RTV's exclusive

right; but only RTV can provide a

service to the public, i.e. an owner

of a block of flats or a firm of

television engineers could not do so.

In the circumstances of Hong Kong the

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