The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government vowed?on Monday to take more aggressive moves to curb the deluges of unwarranted e-mails and crack down on illegal downloading of intellectual property rights (IPR) products.

Speaking on a radio program broadcast to the city's some 7 million population Monday morning, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong said a bill, which is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Council in June or July, will propose a heavy fine on anyone who repeatedly makes unsolicited phone calls or sends unwarranted e-mails.

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority will contact the relevant senders to stop their unwarranted deluge of messages once nuisance is reported by a complainant, Wong said.

Meanwhile, the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau has submitted an amended bill on the Copyrights Ordinance to Legislative Council to enhance protection of intellectual property rights in Hong Kong, he said.

The bureau will join hands with the Customs and Excise Department and the Intellectual Property Department to launch a publicity campaign on intellectual property protection next week.

The campaign will appeal to parents to work together with the government to guard their children from downloading proprietary contents from the Internet, and highlight the around-the-clock internet surveillance Customs undertakes.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2006)