7. Offence of providing decoders and reception equipment for television programme service on subscription basis without licence
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person shall not, in the course of trade or business, import, export, manufacture, sell, offer for sale or let for hire any decoder for use by a Television Receive Only System to receive a broadcasting service which is not licensed on a subscription basis.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to—
- (a) an encrypted broadcasting service which is licensed other than on a subscription basis; or
- (b) a decoder, or a decoder belonging to a class of decoders, which is not a decoder for the purposes of subsection (1) in accordance with the provisions of a notice under subsection (4).
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable—
- (a) on summary conviction, to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 2 years;
- (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $1,000,000 and to imprisonment for 5 years.
(4) The Telecommunications Authority may, by notice in the Gazette, declare a decoder, or a class of decoders, specified in the notice not to be a decoder, or a class of decoders, as the case may be, for the purposes of subsection (1).
(5) In this section, “Television Receive Only System” (單一接收電視系統) means a system for receiving satellite television signals for use by a single specified premises and the received signals are not distributed to others.
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that a notice under subsection (4) is subsidiary legislation.
PART IV
Licenses—General Provisions
8. To whom licence may be granted
(1) The Chief Executive in Council may in accordance with this Ordinance grant a licence to provide a domestic free television programme service or domestic pay television programme service on application made to him in the specified form by a company.
(2) The Broadcasting Authority may in accordance with this Ordinance grant a licence to provide a non-domestic television programme service or an other licensable television programme service on application made to it in the specified form by a company.
