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SCMP Reporter

Junk e-mail was costing Hong Kong up to $10 billion a year, according to a survey of local internet service providers.
The study was published by the Hong Kong Anti-Spam Coalition on Tuesday. It said that 50 per cent of all e-mail received in Hong Kong was spam, with 20 to 40 per cent of it sent from Asia. Five per cent originated in Hong Kong, the study found. 
The coalition said the findings supported its calls for government regulation of the spam problem.
However, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) warned that legislation could simply drive local spammers to register overseas.
The Anti-Spam Coalition, backed by industry groups including the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association (HKISPA), the Asia Digital Marketing Association (ADMA) and companies including Microsoft and Time Warner, was formed last year in a bid to combat the fast-growing spam problem. 
HKISPA chairman York Mok said the findings proved that the problem reached well beyond the technology industry. 'The impact on the local service providers is quite significant, but in terms of the financial impact on the Hong Kong economy, it's also very remarkable.'
The report reached the $10 billion figure by estimating that spam wastes about 6 <120>1/2<121> minutes per employee per day, with 44 per cent of the local workforce connected to the internet. It said this 'spam absenteeism' alone amounted to $13  per employee per day, or about $6 billion per year. The report estimated technical and support costs at $4 billion.
The coalition said that globally, spam cost between US$10 billion and US$20 billion a year.
Jeff Bullwinkel, Microsoft's director of corporate affairs for the Far East, said Japan, Korea and Australia had all passed laws against spammers, while Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore were considering legislation. 
'We have seen an increasing volume of Asian spam. That's alarming to us,' he said. He said that on the mainland, the source of much spam, the authorities were beginning to realise the severity of the problem. 'It's something that's increasingly of interest to government and consumers. We're in the early stages of a dialogue there, but one that's developing rapidly.' 
Mr Bullwinkel said legislation in Britain and the United States had enabled companies to sue the most serious spammers, and this in turn could help convince other firms to stop sending spam. 
'The threat of lawsuits is sufficient to make some spammers think twice,' he said. 
'We do believe legislation is an important element in any approach to the spam problem. But it's not a silver bullet by any means.'
Hong Kong has no anti-spam laws, though the coalition said that 'spam is frequently fraudulent, deceptive or highly offensive .?.?. and is often used as a delivery vehicle for malicious worm and virus attacks'.
Ofta's assistant director, Wong Kwok-shu, agreed that some form of legislation was necessary, but he warned that tough new laws could simply encourage offenders to base their operations overseas. When the government cracked down on sex chat lines, the larger companies simply relocated their businesses to countries where laws were less restrictive. 
'Spammers might just do the same thing. And if they did move overseas, they would be more difficult [to pursue],' he said. 'If we want to go after them then from here we will need some co-operation from overseas authorities.'
However, Mr Wong added that any legislation must be carefully considered to avoid harming local e-commerce.
'The challenge for us is to have some consensus over the kind of behaviour that is acceptable,' said Mr Wong.



Junk e-mail costing Hong Kong billions