Click online: Youth Ambassadors like these Civil Aid Service cadets have pledged to help fight online piracy.

About 200,000 youngsters from 11 local uniformed groups have pledged to help the Customs & Excise Department protect copyright through the Youth Ambassador Against Internet Piracy Scheme.

At a ceremony at Queen Elizabeth Stadium today they vowed to report suspected "BitTorrent seeds" involving pirated copyright work. BitTorrent is a programme for transferring files - such as popular songs or films - on the Internet. A "seed" is a computer that has a copy of a file to be downloaded.

New milestone

Launched in May, the scheme is already helping to curb illegal file sharing. Customs has received 1,200 reports of suspected BT seeds, and 60% have been removed.

Commissioner of Customs & Excise Timothy Tong said the scheme has marked a new milestone of success in the protection of copyright on the Internet, showing the three-way co-operation among the Government, copyright industry and the community in combating illegal file-sharing.

The department may set up a Youth Ambassador Secretariat to ease communication between the uniformed groups and copyright bodies, and organise training and activities for the ambassadors. Youths who joined the scheme can log on to the Customs department's dedicated website to make a report of any offending seeds found.

Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology Joseph Wong praised the ambassadors and the department. He said the Government will launch a new round of publicity programmes for the anti-Internet piracy cause. The Intellectual Property Department is also helping form a consultation paper that will suggest new enforcement and legislative measures, and heightened co-operation between the Government and service providers. A public consulation will be held following its release.