JEDDAH, 26 February 2003 — The Ministry of Information and police have intensified their joint anti-piracy campaign in the wake of a series of raids in the city in collaboration with the Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA).
In recent raids on three warehouses, more than 1.2 million pirated PlayStation CDs worth over SR26 million in street value were seized, one of the world’s largest hauls of pirated games in a single night.
“The warehouses were under surveillance for quite some time. The raid resulted in the arrest of several people,” Lt. Col. Ali Zahrani of AAA said.
The raid underlined the government’s resolve to root out all such illegal activity and ensure that consumers are protected against the threat of piracy, he said, adding: “We’re confident that the crackdown will send a clear signal to counterfeiters about the futility of their actions.”
The confiscated CDs will be destroyed by the Ministry of Information, he said.
Sony, which manufactures PlayStation games, is also collaborating in the anti-piracy campaign, he added.
Chris Stanton Jones, vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which markets PlayStation and its software, said: “We’re encouraged by the continuous support of the Kingdom in its sustained campaign against piracy.”
The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry has an anti-counterfeit awareness committee that conducts a parallel anti-piracy campaign. According to its study, counterfeit products cost the Kingdom as much as SR1 billion a year in lost import duties. They also impact the future of the gaming industry by denying revenues to the research and development efforts of creative studios.
