Raid results in settlement with Royal Focus Trading LLC

The computer and software trading enterprise was raided. In coordination with government officials to curb the menace of piracy, the raids were initiated by Microsoft.

The out of court agreement saw Royal Focus sign an undertaking to abstain from utilizing, exhibiting or soliciting any pirated software from Microsoft Corporation. The liability amount will be increased in case evidence is found of continued infringement.

Juma Al Leem, Director of Censorship Department, Dubai Government said,

"The UAE is trying to build a society that respects creativity, innovation and protects Intellectual Property Rights. Our role is to assist all concerned parties in building a society that is free from piracy to help establish a strong community that will respect each other. Microsoft Corporation and the BSA's efforts to crack down against corporations and individuals that flaunt the principles of IPR will have a massively buoyant effect on regional creative capital and will catalyze strong growth in the IT sector and software industry. We are happy that we are reaching into settlement agreements, this means that people are realizing the importance of IPR laws."

Tolga Altinordu OEM Director, Microsoft Gulf said, "We are determined to reduce software piracy through any and all legitimate means. Piracy is not a victimless crime, and has destructive potential of stifling creativity, hampering economic growth, eroding trust and perverting business environments. In addition, flawed pirated software leaves a firm open to exploitation from hackers, potential data loss and theft, increasing chances of direct financial losses. We are conducting a comprehensive array of raids through intelligence gathered from public and private sector partners, and will prosecute firms found to be in abeyance of IPR laws. As a member of BSA, Microsoft is well aware of the damage piracy can cause to the IT industry and the overall growth of the economy. Piracy in any element of the IT market - software, IT services and hardware & data communications products - will adversely impact the sector as a whole."

"We have reached an out of court settlement with Royal Focus LLC because the enterprise was anxious to settle the matter with us. We acknowledge the firm's cooperation in this regard and are confident that they will here forth respect intellectual property. However, we are prepared and ready to commence legal proceedings against repeat offenders, or entities that try misleading us about their use of pirated software," Altinordu added.

The BSA represents the commercial software industry and is comprised of leading names in the international ICT industry. The alliance is regularly involved in IPR preservation initiatives throughout the Middle East and has contributed to the UAE being on the list of 20 countries with the lowest international software piracy rates.