As Hong Kong society continues protesting against a local magazine's intrusion of privacy, local media associations have called for prudence on law reform.

At a seminar about protection of privacy on Saturday, Serenade Woo Lai-wan, Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman, said the government should not regulate the media hastily just because of the publication of a half-naked pop singer adjusting her bra backstage.

"At this moment, any possible legislation concerning the media is a very sensitive issue," she said. Though she deemed the magazine's decision to publish the pictures unethical, she said the existing laws have offered the public ample protection.

The Press Freedom Committee of the Foreign Correspondents' Club agreed any proposals must be discussed "dispassionately and not in the heat of the moment."

Hoping the media would apply their own sense of ethics and morality, the Committee chairman Francis Moriarty said it is ultimately up to the consumer to decide whether or not to purchase the publication.

But the camp for law reform argued that the existing press council has not enough power to monitor the industry.

Though the issue of Easy Finder that published the peep photos has been recently classified as "indecent" by Hong Kong's Obscene Articles Tribunal, meaning a possible maximum fine of 800,000 HK dollars (102,564 U.S. dollars) and 12 months in jail, people doubt it will effectively prevent such incidents from happening again.

Easy Finder, with a bad record of publishing vulgar photos and privacy-intruding coverage, has been censured by tribunal for 14 times, with penalties ranging from 1,000 HK dollars to 50,000 HK dollars.

On Monday, over 200 members of Hong Kong's entertainment industry, including action superstar Jackie Chan, launched a televised rally, denouncing the publication of the vulgar photos. On Tuesday, representatives of the Hong Kong Performing Artists Guild delivered a protest letter to the government, demanding a law reform to better protect stars' privacy.

In response to the incident, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong Wing-ping said on Friday a review of penalties under the Control of Indecent and Obscene Articles Ordinance was under way in order to "prevent future occurrences of all these publications from publishing indecent and obscene articles."

"We have undertaken to put forward concrete proposals, say in the next few months, so that the public will have a chance to comment on our proposals," Wong said, adding that the proposals would be put before the Legislative Council.

Earlier this week, Chief Executive Donald Tsang also condemned the privacy intrusion. He said the government will launch discussions on ways to regulate covert surveillance, saying talks will focus on recommendations the Law Reform Commission made in March.

The recommendations include creation of two new criminal offenses: trespassing on private premises to obtain personal information, and the use of sense-enhancing or recording devices to obtain the personal information of individuals in private premises.

Noting the government must strike a balance between press freedom and privacy protection, Tsang hoped the public and concerned industries could reach a consensus.

Source: Xinhua