352 | Communications, the Media and Information Technology
If a sender is found to have contravened any prescribed rules, the TA may issue an Enforcement Notice. Failure to comply with the Enforcement Notice is an offence. By the end of 2008, the TA had received 8 753 reports of suspected contraventions and had issued 67 warning letters to the senders. No Enforcement Notice has been issued.
In addition to the enforcement of the UEM Ordinance, the Government has also stepped up international co-operation on anti-spam measures. For example, Hong Kong continued to co-operate with other signatories of the Seoul-Melbourne Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation on Countering Spam, an international community on anti-spam co-operation, to share experiences and exchange intelligence worldwide. Moreover, Hong Kong has established spam reporting channels with other jurisdictions such as Australia, South Korea, Japan, the USA, the UK and the Mainland. Through these channels, OFTA can refer spam emails originated from these jurisdictions to the relevant agencies for follow-up action.
A community-wide Anti-spamming Task Force has also been set up to review the effectiveness of the UEM Ordinance and advise the Government on policies and measures to further tackle the problem of spamming.
International Activities
Hong Kong has been an active player in international telecommunications forums. It is part of the Mainland delegation to conferences and meetings convened by the ITU. It participates as an independent member at the meetings of the Asia- Pacific Telecommunity and the Telecommunications and Information Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC). Hong Kong also plays an active part in the initiative to implement the APEC Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment.
In November, the International Regulators Forum 2008 and the 39th Annual Conference of the International Institute of Communications were held in Hong Kong, co-hosted by OFTA and the Broadcasting Authority. The Forum was attended by 67 senior regulatory officers of the communications industry representing 22 territories from all five continents, while the Annual Conference was attended by 160 policy makers, scholars and industry players from 33 territories.
Broadcasting
Hong Kong is a forerunner in the adoption of advanced broadcasting and telecommunications technologies. The Government's broadcasting policy objectives are to widen programme choice and diversity through competition, to facilitate the introduction of new, innovative broadcasting services and to enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional broadcasting hub.
In order to achieve these objectives, Hong Kong has adopted a facilitating and pro-competition approach to adopting various innovative broadcasting technologies, and provides a liberalised and light-handed regulatory environment for new broadcasting services to flourish. This allows Hong Kong to enter a new era of
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