RIYADH, 2 August — Saudi authorities have raided six centers for pirated computer programs run by Asians and confiscated 1.2 million CDs worth about SR70 million. Special teams comprising information ministry, passports department and Riyadh province officials conducted the raids in the capital on Wednesday and arrested 50 Asian workers.
The centers were selling the pirated CDs through hundreds of peddlers on the streets of Riyadh.
The piracy operation was mainly centered on six apartments which Asian expatriates had rented for the illegal pursuits, Saudi Press Agency quoted Misfar Saad Al-Misfar, assistant undersecretary for domestic information at the Ministry of Information, as saying. The confiscated articles included 160 computers, softwares of Microsoft and Adobe, hardware for copying and obscene films.
The arrested expatriates were also found to organize illegal lotteries with such prizes as television sets and tape recorders, Misfar said.
The culprits will face charges of violating copyright rules and residence and labor regulations. The confiscated CDs and films will be destroyed next week along with five million other pirated CDs, PlayStation, videotapes seized during the past four months.
The raiding teams also found evidence of transferring large amounts of money to Southeast Asia.
