UAE authorities intensify anti-piracy campaign by raiding training centre

The authorities recently raided a training center in Sharjah and seized 70 PCs uploaded with pirated software. The raid was conducted by the Sharjah Police in association with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Information.

The UAE is the frontrunner among other countries in the region in protecting Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), with its strict adherence to IPR laws and the adoption of remedial and legal recourses that impose stiff penalties against the violators of IPR. According to the annual BSA (Business Software Alliance) report, the UAE has been able to lower software piracy to a record 34 per cent, the lowest in the region. The recent raid reflects the strong inter-departmental coordination that exists in the UAE and has led to a healthy environment for software developers and provided a boost to the national economy.

Scott Butler, CEO of Arabian Antipiracy Alliance (AAA) said: "The UAE authorities are continuing their campaign against the individuals and institutions that are violating the statues of IPR in the country. The latest raid should serve as a warning to all those indulging in piracy and should convey the message that the UAE will not tolerate violations of intellectual property rights. The UAE has made excellent progress in piracy reduction by adopting stringent IPR laws and insisting that all users display evidence of using original software."

"As a result of the effective anti-piracy campaigns, there has been a boost to investment in IT, and a large number of international companies have been motivated to set up headquarters in the UAE in order to manage their operations in the Middle East," added Butler. "These developments will contribute in combating software piracy more aggressively."

The Arabian Antipiracy Alliance is poised to enhance its collaboration with ministries of Education and Information and all bodies dedicated to fighting software piracy in introducing new measures aimed at eradicating piracy completely. The AAA is also launching a series of awareness campaigns targeting end-users and companies to highlight the dangers of using pirated programmes, including low performance and loss of information and database.

"Piracy can have a strong negative impact on the economy in general and IT sector in particular," said Butler. "Globally, the IT sector is losing millions of dollars each year because of software piracy. This leads to economic stagnation and job losses in the IT sector. It is therefore in the interest of all segments to join the war on piracy by avoiding the use of pirated software."