HONG KONG, July 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Office of Hong Kong's Telecommunications Authority has launched stringent measures to curb junk faxes.

    The authority said a fixed telecoms network service operator will disconnect all lines provided to a subscriber at a registered address if there are two established complaints against it for sending out junk faxes.

    The lines can be disconnected in five days upon notice. Senders of fax advertisements should not send messages to people who have filed a request not to receive them.

    Operators have supported the office's move to simplify steps under the voluntary Code of Practice on the Procedures for Handling Complaints against Senders of Unsolicited Fax Advertisements, to protect consumers.

    Previously senders had their lines cut after three complaints. Last year, more than 400 lines were cut. Unsolicited electronic messages, including junk fax, will be tackled by future legislation under which penalties will be imposed on the senders.

    In Hong Kong, quite a number of companies and organizations have taken the junk faxes as one of the headaches for office operations. Enditem