Saudi company's pirated software leads to SR5 million lawsuit

[Magnus]

Ouch:

The Business Software Alliance, an international organization that aims to enforce software copyright law, has filed an SR5 million ($1.3 million) damage claim against an unnamed Saudi company found to be using pirated software.

The lawsuit also calls for the cancellation of the company’s commercial registration and an increase in their penalties and prison terms. The claim punctuates a substantial media BSA media campaign, warning the public of the harsh penalties for using pirated goods.

It’s an unprecedented lawsuit for the Kingdom, yet it might only be the first of many- Majed Garoub, the lawyer representing the software company claiming compensation, has said his employers fully intend to file furthers claims against other Saudi companies.

Garoub says that the objective in filing these claims is to protect the investors who’ve brought business to the region, and that protecting intellectual property rights will encourage other companies to invest in Saudi Arabia.

The BSA estimates that 52 percent of companies in Saudi Arabia do business using illegally obtained software, and that this is costing the software companies some $200 million every year.

[Zaid Al Hilali]

Oouch indeed! It is rather late for such action, but never too late. Business in Gulf region is booming once again - alhamdu li Allah - and such progress should be built on solid ethical terms.

Very seldom you find a company that care about software copyrights, some do encourage piracy openly. Such lawsuit will send a shockwave into the markets and industries that tough penalties are valid now.

[dandantheitman]

I have worked with the BSA before - they don't mess around! I know of Design Company in Dubai that was running over 50 illegal copies of AutoCadd. They were brought to their Knees when the BSA came in. They had to buy fully licensed copies of all of their software, which is not cheap, and were slapped with a massive fine.

Dan

[venky83]

The BSA is like the MPAA of the software industry, though MPAA is more stupid and dumb, but what BSA talks about is fair enough, companies should use legal software, I mean IT is a tool you use to do business so you pay for it. I mean IT is so ubiquitous now that it makes no sense for enterprises - small, medium or big to use pirated stuff. It's like would they not pay for electricity or phone and use an illegal connection - no right then why should they not pay for IT.

You know which is why Apple is a great choice for companies I mean an unlimited Leopard server edition costs $999, compare that with Windows Server 2003 and you enter into major licensing agreements. A big client of mine takes 3 months to get 1 server purchase request approved because they have to go back to Microsoft and ask for additional licenses. And if you calculate the Total Cost of a windows server where you calculate the time spent on getting the thing approved, build the server to corporate standards, install the security updates and anti virus products before you run it - man it is equivalent to buying a high end Mac Pro + Unlimited License.

Apple can really win in the enterprise if it can create a value proposition around this area.