Five arrested in anti-piracy raid

Five computer salesmen have been arrested in Dubai and Abu Dhabi during the latest anti-piracy raids carried out by the Ministry of Economy and Microsoft.

A total of 122 CDs and five hard disks containing mostly pirated Microsoft software were seized.

The swoops took place after the authorities received reports that pirated material was being sold in computer shops. Four of the arrests were made in Abu Dhabi and the fifth in Dubai. The five were charged with violating the copyright law.

"The ministry is leading the way in addressing intellectual property rights violations, particularly software piracy," said Under-Secretary Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Alshihhi. "Given the rapid growth of the UAE's information technology sector and its huge influence on economic progress, extra effort must be exerted to prevent criminal activities from compromising this growth industry's sustained development.

"We are committed to further strengthening our collaboration with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and its members in combating social and economic threat.

Jawad Al Redha, the alliance's Co-Chairman in the Middle East, said: "These were successful raids, which affirmed the presence of various threats to the UAE's growing software markets. We thank the ministry for supporting the BSA and its members in their efforts.

"This latest initiative reflects the government's stance against intellectual property rights violations, particularly against the software trade, which is an integral part of the fast-growing Middle Eastern information technology sector."

Microsoft said 46 of the confiscated CDs contained their operating systems ranging from Windows 95 to the latest Vista version, while 22 were loaded with several versions of pirated Office programmes.

The seizures reflect how the Middle East's rapidly rising PC sales and penetration rates are creating opportunities for profiteers and counterfeiters.