Business Software Alliance (BSA), the global trade association representing the software industry, will organise the 'First Regional IPR and Cyber Crime Conference' from October 24 to 25 in Amman.

The event is being held in association with the Jordanian National Library and Adobe Systems, according to a BSA statement.

The inaugural conference will highlight the achievements of Middle Eastern countries in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection attracting authorities, industry leaders and decision-makers concerned with safeguarding IPR in the region for in-depth dialogue and debate, it said.

The event will also serve as a platform for participants to share their experiences and best practices on various issues pertaining to curbing piracy and upholding IPR policies and laws.

Specific objectives of the summit include forging greater cooperation between the Arab League towards the drafting of new IPR laws, and the enhanced exchange of information and expertise with international foundations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization as well as concerned bodies such as the BSA.

'The event is expected to result in a more unified regional approach against piracy and gain support for initiatives such as the integration of IPR content in academic programmes.'

'It will advocate more intensive local and regional anti-piracy campaigns and encourage periodic meetings among government authorities, IPR protection bodies, industry leaders and other stakeholders as well as the establishment of courts specializing in IPR cases,' the BSA said.

Mamoun Talhouni, director general, Jordan National Library, said: 'The conference will provide an ideal setting for participants to share best practices, knowledge and experiences in IPR protection, and deliberate on innovative and more effective methods of curbing the piracy menace in the region’s software industry.'

'The conference will help highlight various economic detriments of piracy that could affect societies and economies of the Arab world,' he added.

“The fact that Jordan is hosting the conference reinforces the country’s commitment towards IPR protection with an underlying objective of bringing about socio-economic benefits,' Talhouni said.

Jawad Al Redha, co-chairman, BSA, Gulf Region, said the governments and businesses in the Middle East have recognised the fact that the degree of success achieved by a country in its economic progress was to a large extent dependent on the efficient implementation of IPR and the use of original software by the industry.

'The concerted efforts by the authorities, government departments and agencies to bring down piracy rates in their respective countries have shown positive results, with a marked decline in piracy rates in most of the Arab world,' he added.

Naser Semaenah, anti-piracy manager for MEA, Adobe Systems Middle East, said: 'Piracy incurs huge financial losses for software companies and has significant consequences in terms of data loss and system damage to users.'

'As an active member of the software community, Adobe hopes the continued collaboration on piracy issues between stakeholders and governments in the Middle East, will help companies to understand these risks and encourage the responsible management of software,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service