The Hong Kong government has proposed wide-ranging laws to crack down on unwanted spam emails, with fines of up to a HK$1 million ($128,000) for offenders, an AFP report said.
The AFP report said the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill to be debated by legislators later this year proposes a system that would punish spam senders and allow email users to protect their computers from the scourge.
'The primary objective of the bill is to tackle unsolicited commercial electronic messages, including emails, fax messages, short messages, voice and video calls, so as to reduce the nuisance caused to the public,' Trade Secretary Joseph Wong, quoted in the AFP report, said.
He said it would include an 'opt-out' regime obliging senders to provide a web link allowing recipients to cancel their inclusion on mail-out lists.
It would also provide for the telecoms authority to keep a 'do-not-call' list of email users who don't want to receive spam, the report said. It will also seek to curb nuisance callers, of which telecom watchdogs said there were 3,600 complaints last year.
Companies found to have email-address harvesting software, a more serious offence, would be fined HK$1 million, the report said.
Wong said the government would also seek cooperation with overseas authorities to punish spammers outside Hong Kong who sent their messages into the Chinese city, the report said.
Hong Kong seeks law against spam
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