Join discussion on control of obscene and indecent articles review
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     People are invited to take part in a public discussion forum tomorrow (January 16) to give their views on the review of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance.

     The forum, to be conducted in Cantonese, will be held at the Hong Kong Space Museum, Tsim Sha Tsui, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

     The Government, on October 3 last year, launched the first round of public consultation on a comprehensive review of the ordinance. Town hall meetings and focus group discussions are organised to widely engage all parts of the community to help shape measures to improve the regulation of obscene and indecent articles distributed over various media platforms.

     The consultation covers all main issues relating to the operation of the ordinance and a wide range of areas for public discussion. These include the definitions of "obscenity" and "indecency", the adjudicating system, the classification system, regulation of new forms of media, enforcement, penalties, and publicity and public education.

     Apart from joining the forum, people can share their views on the subject in an online discussion forum available on the consultation website at www.coiao.gov.hk. They can also send their comments to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau by mail to 2/F Murray Building, Garden Road, Central; by fax to 2511 1458; or by email to info@coiao.gov.hk. The consultation will end on January 31.

     For details of the forum and a consultation booklet of the review, please visit the consultation website.

Ends/Thursday, January 15, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:00

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