Jail Threat for Hong Kong Spammers May Not Stem Junk-Mail Flood

Jail Threat for Hong Kong Spammers May Not Stem Junk-Mail Flood

By Mark Lee

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Vincent Wong says he almost lost a customer when he failed to spot a HK$5,000 ($640) order among the 300 junk e-mails he gets daily. He isn't confident Hong Kong's new anti-spam law will help prevent a repeat.

Under the law that took effect June 1, people in Hong Kong may be fined HK$1 million and jailed for five years for sending unsolicited messages if they obtained the e-mail addresses through ``unscrupulous'' means, such as address-generating software. Offshore spammers may be prosecuted if they use Hong Kong-based computers. The law also applies to phone calls.

``The new law may work for a while, but people will quickly find ways of getting around it,'' said Wong, a manager at Prowell Media Ltd., a media production company.

Spam accounts for more than 70 percent of all messages sent through company networks worldwide, clogging computer systems and inconveniencing users, said Suresh Ramasubramanian, anti-spam chief at Hong Kong-based Outblaze Ltd., which manages e-mail systems for customers including PCCW Ltd., Hong Kong's biggest phone company.

Only technology can block unsolicited e-mails effectively, says David Sorkin, an associate professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

``Legal efforts are not likely to have much success on their own,'' Sorkin said in an e-mail. ``Spam is an international phenomenon, and technology can adapt faster than the law.''

Brazil, China

Computers in Hong Kong are responsible for less than 1 percent of spam circulating on the Internet, according to Composite Blocking List, a Web site that tracks the locations of spam-senders. Most junk mail is sent from Brazil, at 12.2 percent, according to the site. About 11 percent comes from China and 6.2 percent from the U.S.

A U.S. federal grand jury last month indicted an American man on 35 spam-related charges. Prosecutors said he began registering through Chinese Internet service providers last year in a bid to escape detection, the Associated Press reported.

``We should not overestimate the effectiveness of the new law as most e-mail spam come from overseas,'' Marion Lai, Hong Kong Deputy Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, told reporters May 28. ``The experience of other jurisdictions that have anti-spam laws shows that their effect is limited against overseas spam.''

Sift Through Junk

Sifting through about 500 junk e-mails has become part of the morning routine for Mahlon Campbell, a Hong Kong real-estate executive. His computer software automatically transfers all messages it recognizes as spam into a special folder. Sometimes real messages get misdirected.

``Some useful e-mails have ended up in the spam folder before,'' said Campbell, 34. ``You can never totally rely on software to separate them.''

Hong Kong's Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance is a so-called opt-out system, similar to the U.S. Can-Spam Act of 2003, that requires senders to provide an e-mail address recipients can use to remove themselves from mailing lists.

It also bars companies and individuals from sending telephone and fax messages and calling numbers that recipients register in a government database, Lai said. The database will be set up by the end of the year in the second phase of implementation, she said.

The U.S. law ``hasn't been at all effective in tackling spam,'' Sorkin said.

Alternatives

The alternative opt-in system, which underpins legislation such as Australia's Spam Act of 2003, may be more effective because it requires spammers to seek approval from recipients before messages can be sent, Ramasubramanian said.

``Overseas experience is inconclusive as to which regime is more effective,'' Tony Li, principal assistant secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, said in an e-mail. Choosing an ``opt-in'' system may ``create a substantial obstacle'' for local businesses.

Prowell Media's Wong said he expects the new law to result in only a small reduction in the amount of spam he receives. By cracking down on only locally sent spam, the government may succeed in pushing operators offshore, he said.

``The problem with e-mail spam is that it just doesn't cost very much to send them, so spammers have good incentives to carry on,'' Wong said. ``There is no simple solution to spam, and we will just have to watch our e-mails carefully to make sure we don't miss the genuine messages.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 4, 2007 21:28 EDT