### Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance 《非應邀電子訊息條例》

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 $1,000,000 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.

18. Sending of commercial electronic message to electronic address obtained using automated means
(1) No person shall send a commercial electronic message that has a Hong Kong link to an electronic address that was obtained using an automated means.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(3) A person who knowingly contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $1,000,000 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 did not know and had no reason to suspect that the electronic address was obtained using an automated means.
(5) 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.
(6) In this section—
automated means (自動化方法) means an automated process that generates possible electronic addresses by combining letters, characters, numbers or symbols into numerous permutations;
obtained (取得), in relation to an electronic address, means obtained, whether before or after the commencement of this section, by—
(a) the person charged; or
(b) any person from or through whom the person charged acquired the electronic address.

### Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance 《非應邀電子訊息條例》

19. Use of scripts or other automated means to register for 5 or more electronic mail addresses
(1) No person shall use scripts or other automated means to register for 5 or more electronic mail addresses from which to send, or enable another person to send, multiple 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 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(3) A person who knowingly contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $1,000,000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to—
(a) a person who performs functions in connection with the administration of the information systems of an organization, when performing such functions; or
(b) a telecommunications service provider, when acting in connection with the provision of a public telecommunications service.
(5) In this section—
register (登記), in relation to an electronic mail address, means—
(a) to register with an authority responsible for allocating or assigning the electronic mail address or approving its allocation or assignment; or
(b) to be allocated or assigned the electronic mail address with the approval of such an authority;

scripts (手稿程式) means a list of instructions or commands to an information system.

20. Relay or retransmission of multiple commercial electronic messages
(1) No person shall use a telecommunications device, service or network to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic messages that have a Hong Kong link, with the intent to deceive or mislead recipients, or any telecommunications service provider, as to the source of such messages.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 2 years; or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $1,000,000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.

### Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance 《非應邀電子訊息條例》

21. Interpretation of Part 4
(1) In this Part—
initiate (啟動), in relation to a commercial electronic message, means—
(a) to originate or send such a message;
(b) to procure the origination or sending of such a message; or
(c) to attempt to originate or send, or procure the origination or sending of, such a message,

but does not include actions that constitute the routine conveyance of such a message;

routine conveyance (例行傳遞) means the transmission, routing, relaying, handling or storing, through an automatic technical process, of an electronic message in relation to which message another person has identified the recipient or provided the recipient’s electronic address.
(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person initiates the transmission of multiple commercial electronic messages from a telecommunications device, service or network if he initiates the transmission of more than 100 commercial electronic messages during a 24-hour period, or more than 1 000 commercial electronic messages during a 30-day period, from that telecommunications device, service or network.
(3) For the purposes of this Part, more than one person may be considered to have initiated the transmission of a commercial electronic message or multiple commercial electronic messages.

22. Initiating transmission of multiple commercial electronic messages from telecommunications device, etc., accessed without authorization
(1) A person who—
(a) accesses a telecommunications device, service or network without authorization; and
(b) knowingly initiates the transmission of multiple commercial electronic messages that have a Hong Kong link from that telecommunications device, service or network,

commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine and to imprisonment for 10 years.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person accesses a telecommunications device, service or network without authorization if—
(a) he accesses that telecommunications device, service or network by any means or in any manner;
(b) he is not entitled to obtain such access; and
(c) he has not been authorized to obtain such access by any person who is entitled to grant him such access.