Opponents of copyright bill are promoting lies and bullying

After years of consultation resulting in several key amendments, the long-awaited Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 was tabled for its second reading at the Legislative Council on Wednesday. 

The proposed legislation is widely seen to be of particular significance at a time when the government and private sector are mobilizing efforts to catch up with neighboring competitors in terms of innovation and creativity. 

Although the bill has received considerable public support, it has obviously touched a raw nerve among "Internet hooligans", who have been exploiting legal loopholes to trample on other people's intellectual property rights for personal gain. 

Some of the loudest protesters against the proposed bill are the same people who directly participated in or called on followers to join the illegal anti-parallel trade protests in which shoppers, including elderly people, women and children, were harassed and intimidated. Leaders of these protesters have threatened to stage a siege of the LegCo building to demonstrate their opposition to the proposed bill. 

The police are expected to be well prepared to put down any outbreak of violence outside the LegCo building or anywhere else in Hong Kong. These demonstrators are cowards who, in past cases, have shown they are ferocious only in scaring shopkeepers and abusing mothers and young children rather than facing up to law enforcement officers. 

Joining these protesters are a few radical politicians and commentators. They have intentionally tried to mislead the public by accusing the proposed bill of trampling on freedom of speech and expression. Any sensible person can see immediately that their arguments are false. 

It is hard to imagine how a bill to protect intellectual property rights can in any way infringe on the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression which are protected by Article 27 of the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance. 

There is no valid reason why any legislators should find it necessary to vote against the proposed bill as it is drafted.