Abu Dhabi Police raids three companies for using pirated software

During the raid, five staff members were arrested and nine PCs were seized, loaded with illegal programs including Microsoft Windows, MS Office and 28 other pirated software.

The latest raid is part of the ongoing anti-piracy campaign launched by the UAE authorities in association with Business Software Alliance to combat software piracy by intensifying raids on offending traders.

Scott Butler, CEO of Arabian Antipiracy Alliance (AAA) said, " The UAE is one of the leading countries in the Middle East that has managed to reduce illegal software trading, by adopting a series of campaigns against violators of copyright laws. The UAE authorities have taken concrete and tough measures to enforce intellectual property rights (IPR) by introducing laws that prescribe stiff penalties for violators. The government has further supported these campaigns by conducting persistent raids on companies engaging in illegal software trade, as well as on end users. Through these efforts, the UAE has successfully brought down piracy rates in the country from 86 % in 1994 to 36% in 2002".

"This raid sends a direct message to traders and end-users that strong action will be taken against violators of copyright laws. The introduction of new multimedia technology has made software copying even easier than before, leading to a rise in piracy. To combat this, all parties involved in the trade from IT companies to government sectors and end-users should cooperate and work towards fighting this criminal activity", added Butler.

The UAE government has taken a strong stand against software privacy, in order to protect software companies based in the region. The country has achieved positive results through strict implementation of intellectual property rights laws and has emerged as the IT hub of the region, with leading international software companies setting up operations in the country to serve the IT needs of the Middle East and neighbouring countries.

UAE's success in drastically bringing down piracy levels highlights the importance of protecting intellectual property rights in order to create a healthy business environment and present a level playing field for all software companies. This will boost the software industry and create more job opportunities in the region.