Working Report of

Legislative Councilor Samson Tam Wai Ho

(Information Technology)

(January 2010)

I. Focus Updates

1.    Consensus reached by the Government and Telecommunications Industry on the SMS charging
       協調政府和電訊業界就收費短訊問題達成共識  

The Consumer Council recently published a report on billing disputes arising from chargeable SMS and it immediately aroused public concerns. Currently, there are hundreds of content providers (CPs) who are not subject to the supervision of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), resulting in the ever-increasing numbers of cases of overcharging SMS. I think the Government must face this problem and tackle related issues. For this reason, I had many meetings with mobile network operators and OFTA. With the concerted efforts of all parties concerned, a consensus has been reached that a Code of Practice should be formulated to enhance the transparency of the information on mobile content service charges and to improve the related arrangements. At the meeting of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting on 11 January, OFTA published the Code which includes the requirement for CPs: to provide clear information on charges; to obtain user’s prior agreement before service is provided; to set out clearly arrangements for unsubscribing or termination of service; and such arrangements should be easy to understand and carry out etc. The Government will consider whether there is a need to pursue legislative amendments to strengthen protection for consumers, if problems still exist after the Code is implemented.

2.  Amendment to the motion “Establishing a Comprehensive Consumer Protection Regime” 
     就「建立全面保障消費者制度」議案提出修訂

The motion on “Establishing a Comprehensive Consumer Protection Regime” was debated in the LegCo on 6 January. Two points were raised in the original motion:

1. to require traders to issue in writing the terms and conditions within a specified period for any service agreement reached verbally through on-street or telephone promotion, and that the agreement will only be effective upon a signed confirmation by the consumer; and

2. to monitor effectively the services provided by telecommunications service operators and those services provided by a third party through such operators, such as mobile messages and content services etc. so as to ensure that the marketing practices, terms and conditions of services and charges are transparent and fair.

In view of implementation difficulties and for pragmatic reasons, I proposed an amendment to require traders to issue, in writing or by electronic means, a notice of the terms and conditions; and that the agreement will become effective after confirmation by the consumer made through any medium. The original motion also requested the terms of services and charges should be transparent and fair. It was considered difficult to set an agreed objective standard, of fairness, therefore I proposed to revise it to “services and charging clauses etc. that can protect consumers’ rights.”

3.  Introducing the amendment bill of copyright protection in the digital environment by the Government
     政府擬就加強數碼環境中的版權保護提交修訂條例草案

Further discussion on the strengthening of copyright protection in the digital environment took place recently at a meeting of the Panel on Commerce and Industry, and parties concerned were invited to express their views. I also raised my concerns, namely:

1. In the past, the Government mainly collected the opinions of copyright users. How the Government is going to collect the general public’s opinions in the next stage?

2. Will the Government make reference to the other Asian countries’ experience and progress in promoting digital copyright protection?

3. Will the Government set a timetable for legislation?

Mrs. Rita Lau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bureau responded that the Government would continue to consult various sectors through different platforms, such as the Tripartite Forum; the Government would also make reference to other countries’ practices and intend to introduce an amendment bill into the Legislative Council in the second half of 2010.  

4.  Organized the Expert Group meeting to discuss the importance of establishment of the “Science and Technology Bureau”
     舉辦專家小組會議探討成立科技局對香港的重要性

Although the Government has categorized Innovation and Technology Industry as one of the six major industries and also has introduced a number of supporting measures, yet many friends in the IT industry believe that Hong Kong still needs a “Science and Technology Bureau” in order to achieve speedy results. At the Expert Group meeting, members mentioned that there were many cases in the mainland where some enterprises in the PRD region have successfully transformed with the help of Hong Kong’s technological talents and facilities. We have to consider the role of Hong Kong in the country’s overall development in the future. Therefore, it is necessary for Hong Kong to establish a Science and Technology Bureau to formulate long-term technology development strategy. I hope that we will continue to explore this issue and find the solution together. 

5.  Organized Consultative Forum on Constitutional Reform 2012 with industry
     與業界合辦「2012政改方案」論壇

How would the CE be selected and the Legislative Council formed in 2012? To encourage more friends of local IT sector to study and respond to the consultation paper, our office, the Hong Kong Computer Society and some IT professional bodies organized a consultative forum. Mr. Stephen LAM Sui-lung, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs was invited to attend. As I pointed out in the forum that there were more than 60,000 IT professionals yet, only less than 6000 people had registered as voter. Therefore, there was an urgent need to expand the electorate base. However, participants had different views on the implementation and particularly on how to attract more young voters. This issue had yet to be considered.

6.  Agriculture and Fisheries sector hopes the Government to provide free software applications
     漁農界希望政府提供免費軟件使用

As the global economy is undergoing transformation, the development of local agriculture and fisheries industry decreases sharply as well. In addition, our Government didn’t formulate a set of comprehensive agriculture and fisheries policies, resulting in gradual marginalization of the industry in the absence of government supports. For this reason, our office organized the “IT@ Agriculture and Fisheries sector” roundtable forum to discuss how to make use of IT to promote the industrial development. Participants pointed out that the Government should follow the examples of Taiwan and Japan. Their governments provided free software to the industry and assisted them in exploring new space for development. The agriculture and fisheries industry also hopes eventually to establish a set of quality standard in Hong Kong, therefore enhancing public confidence in the local agricultural and fisheries products.

II. Articles Sharing (Chinese Only)

1. 將創意變成長期支票

   《星島日報》2010年1月28日

2. 低成本創業

   《電腦廣場》2010年1月27日

3. 高增值服務業應參與「十二五」規劃

   《文匯報》2010年1月26日

4. 運用互聯網促進公共參與

   《星島日報》2010年1月21日

5. 從山寨手機學創意

   《電腦廣場》2010年1月20日

6. 韓國投資於未來的決心

   《星島日報》2010年1月14日

7. 創意農業

   《電腦廣場》2010年1月12日

8. 最佳CEO評選的啟示

   《星島日報》2010年1月7日

9. 為香港旅遊業增值

   《星島日報》

   2009年12月31日