Microsoft Gulf coordinates with Bahrain Ministry of Information on latest software piracy offensives in Manama

The offensives highlighted Bahrain's comprehensive nationwide anti-piracy program and its thrust to make the capital city in particular a model of a piracy-free environment.

Seized during the raids were a total of 120 CDs containing pirated software along with desktops loaded with counterfeit Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003. A series of similar Microsoft-assisted raids have been conducted in Manama in the past months to discourage further selling of pirated software in high-visibility areas.

In September 2008, the Bahrain Ministry of Information ordered the public destruction of thousands of unlicensed CDs to emphasize its commitment to eventually eradicating software piracy throughout the country.

"Bahrain is in the process of transforming itself into a regional IT hub; this goal will not be attained if we allow the capital city itself to be the base of resellers of illegal software. We value the assistance of Microsoft Gulf and organizations such as the Business Software Alliance in feeding us information that can help us track down sources of pirated software."

said Jamal Dawood, Director of Publication, Bahrain Ministry of Information.

"We will continue to conduct and even intensify such raids to ensure that we secure a safe and productive environment for local and foreign stakeholders in our rapidly growing IT sector," he added.

The Bahrain Ministry of Information upholds the anti-piracy principles contained in the Memorandum of Understanding it maintains with the Business Software Alliance to broaden initiatives to curb copyright infringements against the domestic software sector. Bahrain has been steadily controlling software piracy rates through stronger copyright legislation as well as productive partnerships with the private sector.

"We are concerned that the Microsoft Office suite still continues to be rampantly sold as a pirated product. We would like to remind organizations knowingly using unlicensed versions of this software that their company is an accomplice to piracy and thus faces legal sanctions. While we understand that these trying economic times place greater pressure on businesses to control costs, resorting to criminal practices such as installing unauthorized software is not a solution," concluded Jawad Al Redha, BSA Co-Chairman in the Gulf Region.