Business Software Alliance (BSA) recently concluded its latest judicial round table with judges, prosecutors, intellectual property rights (IPR) specialists from the UAE Ministry of Justice and local and federal courts to foster a cooperative governmental approach against software piracy.

The Ministry of Justice has been intensifying efforts to train judicial personnel on IPR. Its Institute of Judicial Training and Studies recently completed a training program in cooperation with BSA Gulf aimed at raising awareness on IPR protection and related enforcement mechanisms.

The Ministry joined other judicial bodies and authorities in discussing key issues and planning more effective strategies for further enhancing the UAE’s capabilities as a regional anti-piracy champion at the round table.

The judicial round table is conducted annually to strengthen its collaboration with government entities across the Gulf.

Mohamed Mahmoud Al Kamali, general manager, UAE Institute of Training and Judicial Studies, said: “We need clearer insights from the industry itself to develop more effective measures against software piracy, and the judicial round table lays out the piracy issue from both legal and business perspectives, thus giving us a broader view of how we should conduct related training for legal organisations and practitioners of law. Moreover, the global expertise of the business software alliance enables us to integrate the best international practices into our local anti-piracy approaches and legal frameworks.”

Jawad Al Redha, Chairman of BSA Gulf, said: “We need to have the continued support of the judiciary if we want to win the fight against software piracy. The round table ensures alignment between our objectives and the goals of the Ministry of Justice. This was another productive session which enabled us to identify and offer solutions to some obstacles to IPR protection, emphasize the role of training in enhancing anti-piracy capabilities, and affirm the cooperative nature of our relations with the UAE’s judicial community and the law enforcement authorities in particular.” – TradeArabia News Service