A leading academic here has blamed the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Culture and Information for the rising incidence of cyber crimes and piracy of software and other electronic products in the Kingdom.

Abdulaziz Al-Shibl, executive director and chief executive officer of the Information Technology Crime Study Center at Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University, said the ministries have failed to monitor markets and enforce legislation.

He was speaking during a seminar at the university's Center of Excellence for Jurisprudence on Contemporary Issues entitled “Pirated electronic programs — provisions and effects.”

Al-Shibl said piracy was destroying Saudi investments in the computer industry. He said the information ministry’s raids to confiscate pirated material were window-dressing to ease pressures from external sources and had no impact on reducing these crimes.

Al-Shibl said a royal decree has categorized the IT crimes study center as a specialized research body to coordinate studies between universities' IT and computer departments. The center also provides advice to government departments on cyber crimes.

Al-Shibl said recent statistics has shown that Arab countries lose SR1 billion a year because of piracy. He said the protection of intellectual property rights was important for the economies of all countries.

Abdulaziz Al-Milhim, spokesman of the information ministry, said the ministry has not been able to get rid of all criminals pirating electronic products. He said the government was dealing with a large criminal enterprise that had flooded the market with pirated goods.

He said the ministry was pursuing the criminals but urged consumers not to buy these pirated goods. “The community also has a responsibility because it has contributed to the growth of this phenomenon by buying these products,” he said.

Al-Milhim rejected accusations that the ministry was ineffective. He said there were fewer pirated products on local markets. The ministry has arrested many of these criminals and destroyed their goods, he said.