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The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 offers better protection to Internet users than the current legislation, Senior Counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah says.

A former lawmaker who scrutinized the copyright bill over two legislative terms, Tong also rebuts criticism that the bill infringes freedom of the press and freedom of expression. If this was true, the Law Society of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Bar Association would surely stand up and speak out against it, he said.

It is the fifth meeting (spanning 11 days) as of today (Thursday), that the Legislative Council has been debating on this bill. Yet three of the previous meetings were aborted due to filibusters through excessive use of the quorum bell by opposition lawmakers.

Speaking to China Daily in an exclusive interview, Tong, who quit the legislature and the Civic Party owing to his growing distance from the opposition, said the bill was better and more lenient than the existing law because it offers exemptions in six areas - including parody and satire.

Tong said many people did not know that the existing Copyright Ordinance was harsher, with derivative works such as adaptation of copyrighted songs or movies declared as copyright infringement and a criminal offense. The purpose of the amendment bill is to provide guidelines and exceptions in order to prevent netizens from breaking the law.

"The amendment bill is acceptable, although it is not perfect," he said. Tong also slammed the conduct of opposition lawmakers.

"Unfortunately, some people and even legislators vilify it as 'Network Article 23'. In fact, Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit and Sin Chung-kai of the Democratic Party have scrutinized the bill and should know it is more generous than the existing law. They have a duty to explain the merits of the bill to people. Unfortunately, even lawmakers call it a draconian law. To me, they are irresponsible because they do not speak the truth and mislead Hong Kong citizens."

Tong then blasted the Labour Party's Cyd Ho Sau-lan, who said they blocked passage of the bill to protect people's freedoms and blamed the government for ignoring people's views.

He said: "Can the netizens represent all Hong Kong citizens? The purpose of the law is to protect the interests of copyright owners, at the same time as striking a balance between copyrights and derivative works by the netizens. People cannot just listen to the netizens and disregard the copyright owners."

He praised Winnie Tam Wan-chi, chairwoman of Hong Kong Bar Association and a copyright law expert, for her comments on this issue. He quoted her as saying: "People who express their views shall not do it in an unlawful way or infringe other people's rights."

Tong also discussed why the opposition were manipulated by the netizens and chose to oppose the bill at the final stage. He said: "They not only fear the netizens will not vote for them. They also fear netizens will blacken them and reveal their scars. A 'noble' like Alan Leong cannot bear such attacks," he said.

Tong said the government should not yield and accept the opposition's demands. Instead, it might consider withdrawing the bill, but at the same time use stringent law enforcement against copyright violation. Only when netizens were prosecuted and taken to court would they realize the amendment bill was a better law, he added.

joseph@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/29/2016 page7)