The UAE government, signalling its continued campaign against the use and sale of illegal software, recently raided three resellers in the areas of Karama and Khalid bin Waleed Road in Dubai. The action yielded 17 PCs loaded with illegal copies of Microsoft Windows MF, Windows 98 and Microsoft Office 97.
"This fight has been an essential item of the UAE Government's IT agenda for the last few years, and is considered to have played a notable role in turning Dubai into the region's IT hub," said Business Software Alliance (BSW). "Knowing that their rights are protected encourages international and local software developers to invest and set up offices in the country."
BSA, which is the voice of the world's leading software developers, stressed that the protection of intellectual property, including software and Internet content, was regarded as a vital keystone necessary for building a healthy IT environment, and allowing the sector to grow and develop into a national resource.
"This series of new raids comes as yet an additional confirmation that the UAE is intent on eradicating the use and sale of illegal software," said BSA Middle East director Jawad Al Redha. BSA worldwide members include Adobe, Apple Computer, Autodesk, Corel Corporation, Macromedia, Microsoft, Network Associates and Symantec.
BSA acknowledged that the UAE was one of the countries most active in promoting copyright protection. It noted that the use and sale of illegal software in the country had dropped considerably in the past few years and that the UAE was among the first countries in the region to be removed from the 301 watch list.
"The success is largely due to enforcement efforts by the Ministry of Information. Thanks to their initiative, the UAE stands today on a par with Europe in terms of protecting the rights of software developers, and we are proud of that," said Al Redha.
In order to be fully ready to handle its responsibilities of supporting and defending intellectual property, the ministry keeps a close relationship with the BSA, and the two have partnered in activities such as awareness campaigns and training programmes.
Although raids are efficient tools in enforcing the law, they are always left as a last option, said BSA. It said companies that reportedly used or sold illegal software received several notices and warnings in addition to offers of assistance from the BSA to license their software. Only those who repeatedly refused to comply with their notifications were raided.
At an event at the end of March, the ministry destroyed illegal software in addition to copied videos and audio products. These had been seized over the last two years by the ministry.
"We want to keep reminding would-be offenders that out intent is still very much to enforce this law," said the ministry's head of censorship Juma Alleem.
