Intellectual Property (IP) fraud across the Arab world is estimated to run at $50 billion annually - a figure that Arab League Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs Dr Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Tuwaijri earlier this month described as an "epidemic".
In many countries across the region, well over half the software in use is believed to be counterfeit. According to the organization representing the world's commercial software industry, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), software piracy rates in 2006 reached 84% in Algeria, 79% in Tunisia, 73% in Lebanon, 66% in Morocco, 63% in Egypt and 61% in Jordan.
In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the rates stood at 64% for Kuwait, 62% for Oman, 60% for Bahrain, 58% for Qatar, and 52% for Saudi Arabia.
Only the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at 35%, came in at the average global piracy rate for business software, and is the only Arab country in a world list of top 20 countries with the lowest piracy rates for 2006.
But even in the UAE, the value of counterfeited products across-the-board - from cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and tobacco to automobile spare parts - in 2006 was, according to a recently released KPMG study, estimated to run almost to $700 million, and to have cost the country around $1.7 billion in lost non-oil GDP, $110 million in lost tax revenue, and some 31,000 lost job opportunities.
In a world in which legitimate businesses are estimated to be losing up to $700 billion annually to IP piracy and counterfeiting, IP rights and protection literally represent foreign concepts in the Arab world, and the problem of piracy and counterfeiting is a Intellectual property (IP) theft, the illegal pirating of business software, DVDs, music CDs and computer games is posing an increasing threat for legitimate business in Arab countries.
But steps are now being taken by organizations such as the Arab League to start to combat what has become a serious problem pressing one among Arab countries.
In an effort to inform and educate Arab businesses, consumers and right holders about IP rights and protection and the damage that piracy and counterfeiting can cause, the Arab League - the Egypt-based umbrella policy-making body serving the interests of Arab countries - is, in association with the Saudi Arabian-based consumer and brand protection organization Hemaya Universal, sponsoring Arab World Protect 2008: The first Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum, in Jeddah in October.
A forum focusing on the economic importance and socioeconomic impact of IP protection was also held early this January in Abu Dhabi.
It was hosted by the UAE Ministry of Economy, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Dubai-based legal consultants Khasawneh & Associates, and was sponsored by a number of regional and international professional, business and corporate entities, including Microsoft.
At the forum, Khasawneh & Associates Managing Partner Nasser Ali Khasawneh illustrated how local attitudes to the concept of IP contributed to the growing piracy problem when he said piracy "is still viewed by some as a harmless crime".
He urged "stronger cross-border collaboration among countries in the Arab world" to combat piracy and to use IP protection "as an effective tool of economic development in the Arab world".
IP forums such as the UAE-hosted event last month and the Saudi-hosted Arab World Protect 2008 in October have a long way to go in educating Arab businesses and consumers on IP and forging effective tools in enforcing IP rights.
In the International Intellectual Property Alliance's (IIPA) major annual report released earlier this week, Middle Eastern Arab countries did not fare well:
Yemen, Iraq and Syria are not mentioned in the 2008 IIPA report.
Sources: Bahrain Tribune
Tags: Arab World, fraud, IIPA, IP, Lebanon, piracy
