Business Software Alliance (BSA), a leading advocate for the software industry, has partnered with the Kuwait Ministry of Commerce and Industry to impart anti-piracy training to the Ministry’s inspectors.

The sessions focused on education, awareness and enforcement strategies to curb the spread of software piracy and reduce the negative social and economic effects of this illegal activity.

The Kuwaiti government is considering various strategies to enhance its anti-piracy activities and policies following recommendations given by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) in its 2010 Special 301 Report on copyright protection and enforcement.

The IIPA report affirms that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been especially cooperative and committed to fighting piracy.

“Although Kuwait has managed to reduce its software piracy rate over the past three years, there is still much work to be done to ensure the protection of legitimate software businesses and vendors,” said Sheikha Rasha Naif Al Jaber Al Ahmad Al-Sabah, director of IPR at the Kuwait Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

“We plan to adopt a multi-pronged approach which combines education and enforcement to ensure that the piracy issue is addressed in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. Our partnership with Business Software Alliance is a major step towards this direction,” she added.

Jawad Al Redha, BSA chair, Gulf region, said: “Two major problems being faced by Kuwait’s software sector are the loading of unlicensed software on PCs and the sale of pirated copies in the retail markets. We intend to assist the Ministry’s inspectors as they endeavor to maximize their anti-piracy enforcement capabilities.” – TradeArabia News Service