Dubai Destroys More Pirated Software, Videos

[Ahmed Omair <ao@akunet.org>]

Dubai Destroys More Pirated Software, Videos 

Authorities confiscated more than 37,000 copies of
illegal software, audio products and motion pictures;
clampdown on copyright violations reportedly
successful despite violators going underground to
evade authorities 

DUBAI: July 24, 1999 

More than half a million dollar worth of illegal
software, CDs and motion pictures have been seized
in Dubai and the northern emirates of the United Arab Emirates in the
last six
months. The confiscated material was destroyed last Monday. 

<snip...snip...snip>

The raids were joint effort by the ministry's office in Dubai, police
from the
northern emirates and the commercial crime branch in Dubai, and the
Dubai
offices of the international copyright watchdog organizations, Motion
Picture
Association (MPA) and Business Software Alliance (BSA). 

The UAE, which has been a leader among the Gulf states in combating
copyright violations, reportedly has no homegrown CD-based illegal
software
industry. The pirated CDRoms, DVDs and CDs seem to have been smuggled
into the UAE from Asia, according to Scott Butler, general manager of
the
Dubai office of MPA, which represents the seven largest motion picture
studios
in Hollywood. 

<snip...snip...snip>

A number of shops suspected of making or selling pirated material was
shut
down while suspects were being investigated. 

The UAE copyright law punishes offenders by up to six months
imprisonment or
a fine of Dh50,000. Since copyright laws have been only recently
introduced or
awaiting full enforcement in key Arab markets, analysts believe the
seriousness
of piracy has not been fully perceived as in the West, and that law
courts in
general tend to be lenient with offenders. However, analysts see the
outlook to
be promising as awareness of copyright and the impact on the economy
increases. 

<snip...snip...snip>

The UAE had the lowest regional piracy rates, and in the five years up
to 1998 it
achieved the highest reduction in piracy rates worldwide, which stood at
37
percent. 

Citing the UAE to be the first and only country among the Gulf states to
have
issued a prison sentence on a copyright offender, Butler said the
emirates were
a leader in the region in combating piracy, followed by Bahrain, Qatar
and
Oman, while Kuwait still kept the worst record. 

<snip...snip...snip>
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