Hong Kong Ordinances

UNSOLICITED ELECTRONIC MESSAGES ORDINANCE - SECT 17

Use of address-harvesting software or harvested-address list

(1) No person shall use—

   (a)  address-harvesting software; or

   (b)  a harvested-address list, in connection with, or to facilitate, the
        sending of commercial electronic  messages that have a Hong Kong link
        without the consent of the registered  users of the
        electronic addresses to which they are sent.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable
on summary conviction to a fine at level 6.

(3) A person who knowingly contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and
is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $1000000 and to
imprisonment for 5 years.

(4) It is a defence to a charge for an offence under subsection (2) for the
person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised
all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

(5) In this section, "use" (用、使用) does not include the act of
forwarding the address-harvesting software or harvested-address list to
another person. "use" (用、使用)