Rebecca Ong

Providing Justice for Low-Income Youths Publicly Funded Lawyers and Youth Clients in Hong Kong

Despite the undercurrents of rights protection in Hong Kong’s juvenile justice procedure, the ultimate goal remains punishment based on welfare needs. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 40 youth defendants and defence lawyers, this article will examine the ways in which youth defendants and defence lawyers negotiate the welfare and justice imperatives of the Hong Kong juvenile justice system and end up accepting the disciplinary welfare model. Publicly funded lawyers have become primarily plea mitigators, assisting the state in seeing to the welfare and ‘the best interests of the child’. A study of Hong Kong will lead to a broader understanding of how a welfare-oriented system can work in a time when juvenile justice systems around the world emphasize human rights, due process and children’s rights.

Spamming and mobile marketing: get it right

In recent years, the mobile phone has become a ubiquitous communication channel. The adoption of the device and its technology by the users globally has increased exponentially. The rise in the number of mobile phone subscribers globally is well documented and this can be attributed to the mobile phones unique features such as its portability, mobility and convenience. Marketers have recognised the emerging value of the mobile as a new channel of marketing and have an increasing interest in employing mobile marketing as one of their marketing strategies. Whilst marketers should be lauded for embracing the new technology, there are concerns as to the manner and the form in which mobile marketing takes. To the consumer, unknown commercial text messages are seen as nothing more than the unsolicited commercial messages (spam). Spam is the subject of regulation in a number of jurisdictions. This aim of this article is to firstly examine what is spam and what are its implications. Secondly, the article briefly considers some of the legislations promulgated. Finally, the article evaluates the factors that should be considered to enhance a consumers experience in mobile marketing.

Consumer Based Electronic Commerce: A Comparative Analysis of the Position in Malaysia and Hong Kong

Although consumer electronic commerce is growing at a significant rate, a number of stumbling blocks continue to hamper its development. One stumbling block relates to ensuring the trust and confidence of consumers and businesses alike. For electronic commerce to develop, both consumers and businesses must be confident that transactions conducted electronically will not be modified or intercepted. They need to know that they are safe from ‘cyber’ theft and fraud. There must be some assurance that a trustworthy mechanism exists to ensure that security is not compromised. In addition to the security of electronic transactions, consumers’ confidence can be further enhanced if information on electronic transacting is made more transparent. This will assist consumers in making informed and consensual decisions. Contract formation also tends to raise problems. Parties might disagree as to what point a contract is formed. This issue, too, needs to be addressed to enhance the integrity of this new mode of procuring goods and services. This article considers these issues in the context of recent legal MFK-Mendip Job ID: 10053BK-0101-7 3 102 Rev: 17-02-2004 PAGE: 1 TIME: 08:02 SIZE: 60,00 Area: JNLS OP: PB CONSUMER BASED ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 102 3 Electronic commerce can be defined simply as doing business electronically where the physical presence of parties is not required. The medium in which such business is conducted is normally through an open network such as the Internet. Electronic commerce includes business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), and consumer to business (C2B). 4 In existence for the last 20 years, EDI has been used by businesses to exchange business documents such as purchase orders and invoices. The exchange of documents takes place in a matter of seconds and involves no paper or human intervention. The computer takes over all manual tasks from determining purchase requirements of buying company, sourcing the appropriate vendor and availability of products to placing and confirmation of the order and transfer of funds to the vendor. Traditionally, EDI is operable in a pre-established trading relationship between existing trading partners. Although, EDI is highly efficient and beneficial to companies, it is cost prohibitive to small and medium sized companies. developments in Malaysia and Hong Kong designed to enhance consumer electronic commerce. These two jurisdictions have been chosen for the purposes of the case study because they provide two representative examples of how common law East Asia is tackling the challenge of how to facilitate growth in consumer electronic commerce. This article first identifies the issues raised by contracting on line with a particular focus on principles of contract formation, consumer protection and security of on line transactions. It examines the principles on formation of contract adopted in the UK and the issue of consumer protection raised in the UCTA and the EU Directives on Distance Contracts and Electronic Commerce. It then looks at the relevance of these provisions to Malaysia and Hong Kong. The article next looks at the extent to which the spirit of the UNCITRAL Model Law has been adopted in Malaysia and Hong Kong with regard to electronic signatures. It considers the principles drawn from the Utah Digital Signature Act and compares that with the Digital Signature Act 1997 of Malaysia with the Electronic Transactions Ordinance 2000 of Hong Kong. The article finally discusses whether the governments in Malaysia and Hong Kong have taken sufficient steps to ensure that consumer based electronic commerce is set to flourish in the near future.

Attitudes of the Hong Kong Chinese public towards sex offending policies: The role of stereotypical views of sex offenders

The Hong Kong government recently introduced a sex offender registry that gives the public access to records of sexual offence conviction. This step was taken in the context of a penal system that traditionally places a high value on rehabilitation and a culture that traditionally supports rape myths. This study explores public attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese towards a variety of sex offending policies and the variables, particularly stereotypical views of offenders, which may influence them. Overall, support was expressed for policies that sought to manage the risk posed by sex offenders. This shift is explained by the emergence of a fear of sex offenders as Hong Kong tries to maintain its reputation for good social order amid social and political change, and a new emphasis on sex crimes as a danger to the most vulnerable members of society, namely children.

Mobile marketing or mobile spam: who decides?

In recent years, the mobile phone has become a ubiquitous communication channel. The global adoption of the device and its technology by users has increased exponentially. The rise in the number of mobile phone subscribers globally is well documented and this can be attributed to the mobile phones unique features, such as its portability, mobility and convenience. Marketers have recognised the emerging value of the mobile phone as a new channel of marketing and have an increasing interest in employing mobile marketing as one of their strategies. Whilst marketers should be lauded for embracing the new technology, there are concerns as to the manner and form which mobile marketing takes. To the consumer, unknown commercial text messages are seen as nothing more than unsolicited commercial messages (spam). Spam is the subject of regulation in a number of jurisdictions. The aim of this paper is to firstly examine what spam is and its implications. Secondly, the paper briefly considers some of the promulgated legislations. Finally, the paper evaluates the factors that should be considered to enhance a consumers experience in mobile marketing.

The Writing is on the Forum: Liability of Internet Intermediaries in Hong Kong

Abstract Not only has social media - Facebook pages or posts, tweets, blogs, forums and online comments - become popular avenues of expression, they have become common platforms to engage in defamation, which is making defamation easier and more pervasive. This note examines Hong Kong’s recent Court of Final Appeal decision on the liability of Internet intermediaries for thirdparty defamatory postings and the degree of protection afforded in defamation proceedings to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet intermediaries.

Is there a case for tort of invasion of privacy in Hong Kong

In this era of advanced technology, frequent instances of inadvertent disclosure and/or loss of information invading into the privacy of an individual cannot be ignored. The paper will discuss the recent incidents in Hong Kong in an attempt to argue that although there are laws on the right to privacy in Hong Kong, the relevant legal provisions do not provide for a cause of action of invasion of privacy. It then concludes by giving reasons as to why it is timely to revisit and modify the law in Hong Kong and that one should be allowed to sue in the tort of invasion of privacy.

Online piracy and the copyright challenge in Hong Kong

Digital technology and the internet are changing the way the society use and enjoy products, media and entertainment. In recent times, we have seen how this evolution has exacerbated the tension between copyright holders and consumers. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, the paper sets out to analyse the recent criminal conviction of a file sharer for copyright infringement and consider its effect on copyright liability in Hong Kong. Secondly, the paper examines and evaluates the provision for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) immunity under the Copyright Ordinance and concludes with a discussion that a review of the Ordinance is required for a more detailed safe harbour regime for ISPs in Hong Kong.