Forum hosted by BSA and the Jordan Ministry of Culture's Department of the National Library opens today in Amman

February 26, 2007

Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association established by the software industry to promote a safe and legal digital world, has announced today (Monday, February 26, 2007), the opening of the two-day Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Forum in Amman, Jordan. The Forum is being organised in partnership with the Jordan Ministry of Culture's Department of the National Library and will focus on the achievements of Arab countries in IPR protection.

All authorities concerned with safeguarding intellectual property rights in the region are taking part in this forum, which is in its third year. The Forum serves as a platform for participants to share their experiences and best practices on various issues pertaining to curbing piracy and protection of IPR laws.

Mamoun Talhouni, Director General, Jordan National Library, said, "The IPR Forum in Amman 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 Forum will help highlight various economic detriments of piracy that could affect societies and economies of the Arab world."

"The fact that Jordan is hosting this conference for the second time reinforces the country's commitment towards IPR protection with an underlying objective of bringing about socio-economic benefits. We call upon all concerned authorities to provide their support to create a safe digital world; we should also leverage the Forum's platform to work towards greater cooperation with various governments and authorities to fight piracy. We are glad to be part of this forum standing next to BSA helping them curb the menace of piracy. "

Alastair De Wet, Compliancy Manager for MEA and Med, Adobe Systems Incorporated, said, "To effectively bring down piracy rates there has to be a sustained and combined effort from the governments, corporate and individual users as well. The increased level of IT penetration among all sectors in the market has encouraged us to help in the distribution of IPR laws. Also the huge losses suffered by software companies each year due to the threat of piracy, coupled with the damage caused to individual and corporate users in terms of loss of data and harm to computers systems, are enough reasons to take stringent actions against violators of intellectual property right laws."   

A study conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation), the IT industry's leading global market research and forecasting firm, showed that software piracy levels in the Middle East dropped one percentage point in 2005 to 57 per cent, while the global piracy rate remained unchanged at 35 per cent. The study shows that the Middle East and Africa region has made substantial progress in tackling the problem of software piracy, with piracy rates dropping in as many as 19 of the 26 countries in the region.    

Jawad Al Redha, Co-Chairman, Business Software Alliance, Middle East, said, "Governments and corporate in the Middle East have recognised the fact that the degree of success achieved by a country in its economic progress is 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."

-Ends-

About BSA
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace BSA helps governments and consumers understand how software strengthens the economy, worker productivity and global development and how its further expansion hinges on the successful fight against software piracy and Internet theft. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.

BSA members include: 4D, Adobe, Agfa-Monotype, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, BVRP Software, Centennial, Cisco Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Grupo SP, Entrust, HiT Internet Technologies, HP, IBM, iInventory, Intel, Intergraph, Internet Security Systems, Intuit, LMS International, Macromedia, Magix, Mamut, McAfee, Microsoft, Microstar, Nemetschek, O&O Software, OWG, Panda Software, Realviz, RSA Security, SIA, SolidWorks, Staff & Line, Sybase, Symantec, TeamSystem, Trend Micro, UGS PLM Solutions, VERITAS Software, Visma, WRQ.

BSA Anti-Piracy Hotlines
Kuwait Hotline: 2438033
UAE Hotline: 800 4828
Other countries: (9714) 332 2307

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© Press Release 2007