Press Release
Successful Raid against Sale of Unauthorised Pay TV Decoders

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) and the Police jointly mounted a successful raiding operation last Thursday (January 13) against the sale of unauthorised pay TV decoders in Shamshuipo area.

A total of 7 suspected unauthorised decoders, 41 smart cards and 30 smart card programmers were seized and 5 persons were taken to the police station to assist in further investigation.

A spokesman for the OFTA said that under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap 562), a person shall not, in the course of trade or business, import, export, manufacture, sell, offer for sale or let for hire an unauthorised TV decoder. The offender is liable to a maximum penalty of HK$1 million fine and five years' imprisonment upon conviction.

"I wish to warn those people selling the illegal TV decoders and smart cards that they will be subjected to heavy criminal penalty. In two recent cases, the penalties were imprisonment for three months and four months, suspended for two years.

"OFTA will closely monitor these illegal activities and will take swift and prompt enforcement actions," the spokesman said.

The spokesman also pointed out that using illegal decoders for commercial purposes, such as pirated viewing of pay TV programmes in a restaurant, is a criminal offence. Both commercial and domestic users of the decoder will also be subjected to civil court action by the pay TV operators.

"Members of the public purchasing or using the decoders will not only suffer from financial loss, but will also face serious legal consequences.

"The Government will continue to work with the industry to clamp down on these illegal activities. It is also the primary responsibility of the pay TV operators to adopt protective measures against TV privacy," the spokesman added.

Office of the Telecommunications Authority
17 January 2005



Mr Danny Lau (left), Assistant Director (Operations), Office of the Telecommunications Authority, and Ms Kong Siu Ching (right), acting Chief Inspector (Crime) of Sham Shui Po District of the Police, brief the press on the successful joint raid operation against the sale of unauthorised pay TV decoders in Sham Shui Po area.