RIYADH: The Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA) yesterday honored the Kingdom for strictly enforcing regulations concerning intellectual property rights.
Acknowledging the role of Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information in fighting piracy on the national and regional levels, the AAA presented an appreciation plaque to Abdul Rahman Al-Hazzaa, deputy minister of culture and information, at a ceremony in Riyadh.
“The situation in the field of piracy control in Saudi Arabia has vastly improved under the leadership of Al-Hazzaa, who has instituted several radical changes in domestic copyright policies,” said Scott Butler, AAA’s chief executive officer, after presenting the plaque.
The ministry, Butler said, had laid emphasis on achieving higher levels of transparency with regard to anti-piracy cases and its focus on mobilizing well-orchestrated raids across the Kingdom.
These raids, particularly aimed at vendors of illegal CDs, have benefited the movie and game industries, which are the constant victims of copyright infringements.
Al-Hazzaa personally monitored a massive crackdown in the streets of Riyadh that led to the confiscation of 38,090 pirated CDs and DVDs recently.
He has also supported the maintenance of a public website posting information on piracy cases.
The ministry has also implemented a nationwide initiative banning illegal Pay TV decoder boxes.
“We commend the ministry and particularly the efforts of Al-Hazzaa for acting swiftly and strongly against the proliferation of piracy in the Kingdom and supporting coordinated efforts to fight piracy,” said Butler.
Since his appointment to the post, Al-Hazzaa has been undertaking proactive measures that have resulted in significantly reducing piracy levels throughout the country.
