Kuwait ministry of commerce and industry recently teamed up with Microsoft Gulf to conduct joint raids against pirated software vendors and confiscated five computers containing illegal software.

The ministry recently raided two computer shops in the Hawalli district
as part of its anti-piracy drive and nabbed software vendors.
 
Acting on tipoff from Microsoft Gulf, the ministry authorized separate raids on establishments operating at the Al Qairawan Complex on Ibn Khaldooon Street.

The offensive resulted in the confiscation of a total of five computers containing illegal software.

Just recently, a ministry-sanctioned raid also conducted on Ibn Khaldoon Street resulted in disciplinary actions against three operators.

'We intend to step up our efforts to significantly reduce incidences of pirated software sales in the district, which acts as the commercial centre for computer-related goods in the country.'

'If we succeed in eradicating piracy in Hawalli, then we effectively cut off the major source of pirated products in Kuwait. As we begin a new year, we want to gain more ground towards our goal of establishing the country as a piracy-free environment and a regional IT hub,” said Rasha Al-Sabah, intellectual property rights manager, Kuwait.

Microsoft Gulf has been providing vital information on the whereabouts of resellers vending illegal software copies in Kuwait, based on complaints from both consumers and resellers whose operations are negatively affected by sales of pirated software.

The company is an active member of Business Software Alliance (BSA), the leading global organisation that is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace.

“Significantly reducing piracy requires concerted efforts from government, the private sector, dedicated anti-piracy groups, such as the BSA, and end-users,' said Jawad Al Redha, Business Software Alliance co-chairman in the Gulf Region.

'Enforcement actions by local law enforcement agencies highlight the effectiveness of such a unified approach to upholding intellectual property rights,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service