Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance honors MoCI Undersecretary for stringent enforcement of IPR regime in KSA

In recognition of his achievements, the Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA) recently honoured Al Hazzaa and presented him with a plaque in his office.

MoCI emphasis on achieving higher levels of transparency with regards to anti-piracy cases and its focus on mobilizing well-orchestrated raids particularly aimed at vendors of illegal CDs have especially benefited the movie and game industries, which have been constant victims of copyright infringements.

H.E. Al Hazzaa's recently monitored a massive crackdown throughout the streets of Riyadh which led to the confiscation of 38,090 pirated CDs and supports the maintenance of a public website posting information on piracy cases, the first and only initiative of its kind in the world. The MoCI has also implemented a nation-wide initiative to ban illegal Pay TV decoder boxes throughout the kingdom.

Scott Butler, CEO, Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA), said:

"We commend MoCI Undersecretary H.E. Abdul Rahman Al Hazzaa for acting swiftly and strongly against the proliferation of piracy in the Kingdom and supporting coordinated efforts to fight piracy there. Since his appointment, H.E. Al Hazzaa has been undertaking proactive measures which have resulted in significantly reduced piracy levels throughout the country. His dedication continues to motivate us to step up our own IPR protection activities for the KSA."

Counterfeit products are estimated to inflict annual revenue loses of around $4bn in the Kingdom, indicating the massiveness of the country's commercial market. The government, private companies and special interest groups such as the AAA have been consolidating their resources to better inform the public and businesses on the negative legal, economic and social impact of copyright violations and thus more effectively control domestic copyright infringements.