Kuwait is expected to tighten its rules governing intellectual property rights violations, which would provide a big boost in its campaign against software piracy, according to a top official with the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
The new rules could have far tougher penalties in instances of violations.
"Currently, violators are to be charged 500 Kuwait dinars and it ends there. There are no provisions for imprisonment or other get tough measures," said Jawad Al Redha, co-chairman of BSA for the Middle East and Africa.
"Even then, we have seen the courts being lenient and some offenders have fined nothing more than 100 Kuwaiti dinars. That is nothing for an average street seller of pirated software who can make 500 Kuwaiti dinars in two days or less.
"As the UAE has shown, the only way to take on offenders is through effective and tough penalties.
"Saudi Arabia has instituted a fine of 500,000 Saudi riyals and imprisonment for those caught distributing pirated stuff. Kuwait has to go some distance before we could say the same about its penalties."
Kuwait has one of the highest piracy rates in the region, hovering well over the 70 per cent mark. In fact, piracy in the country has swelled in the last year in stark contrast with most other Middle East states where it has declined.
And it is not just software that is being duplicated in varying degrees, piracy is rampant in music, films and video gaming titles in Kuwait.
Meanwhile, BSA has detected a more pro-active approach from the Leban-ese government in tackling software piracy, the official added.
At the recent Termium IT exhibition in the country, there was a sharp drop in the number of resellers offering pirated stuff at their stalls.
"Just three years ago, every other seller would have been offering illegal stuff. Now their ranks have come down appreciably, and we should be expecting some more encouraging developments this year," said Al Redha.
Average software piracy in the Middle East is around 55 per cent as of end 2003. For this year, the official is hoping the new measures adopted by the likes of Kuwait and Lebanon would push it down to around 50 per cent.
For the UAE, where 2003 piracy was in the mid-30 per cent range, BSA is expecting a further softening of another couple of percentage points.
Incidentally, the country has the lowest piracy rates in the region and is well above those in some of the major Western European states.
Gulf News
