The Ministry of Culture and Information confiscated more than 38,000 pirated CDs from illegal street vendors here as part of a comprehensive anti-piracy crackdown last week, said a press release Thursday. The Saudi market for counterfeit products currently accounted for around $4 billion, said the press release issued by the Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA). The street vendors were questioned to find out their sources for the seized CDs, which contained movies and games. Scott Butler, CEO, Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA), said: “We commended MoCI Undersecretary Abdul Rahman Al-Hazzaa for supporting coordinated efforts to fight all forms of piracy and copyright crimes.” “In such a short span of time they were able to dramatically reduce the number of illegal vendors from Riyadh streets. This campaign has generated significant awareness among the public that the government is taking a strong stand against street sales of pirated materials,” he said. Al-Hazzaa had earlier stated that he would sustain the campaign until street vendors were no longer visible, as part of his drive against intellectual property rights (IPR) violators. Similar initiatives are being planned by the government to uphold copyright laws and establish a fair environment especially for major IPR-reliant businesses such as Pay TV, motion pictures, computer gaming. The government is thus closely coordinating with organizations such as AAA to educate the public and businesses on the serious economic, legal and social consequences of copyright crimes.
