Kuwaiti economy set to gain US$350 million in additional revenues by reducing software piracy rate

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The Kuwaiti economy is looking at potentially adding USD 350 million to its national economy by reducing its software piracy rate, as recent IDC studies revealed that a minimum 10 percentage point drop in the country’s current piracy activity can rake in significant earnings from its booming IT market. The research showed that curbing illegal software acquisition could result in an additional USD 219 million in local revenues and USD 1 million in taxes. In line with this, the Kuwait Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association that promotes a safe and legal digital world. As a founding member of BSA, Autodesk, the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building, and media and entertainment markets, has expressed its support to the extensive anti-piracy campaign, which the organisation is set to launch in the GCC state within the coming months.

Autodesk’s active role in combating software piracy is aimed at protecting its network of third-party developers that are gravely affected by the large-scale incidence of software piracy across the globe.  As a leading provider of design software solutions, the company also seeks to protect its multimillion-dollar investments and years of dedicated labor in conducting sophisticated programming and testing by educating the public about the advantages of using genuine programs.

“Our partnership with BSA is an important step towards achieving a piracy-free software market in Kuwait, which will not only generate significant financial gains for us, but more importantly fuel our country’s growth in the information technology front,” said H.E. Sheikha Rasha Al-Sabah, Intellectual Property Rights Manager, Kuwait. “An extensive advertising and media campaign will generate awareness regarding existing anti-piracy program and the benefits of totally curtailing this practice, and we wish to thank global software enterprises such as Autodesk for their unwavering support for this cause.”

“As the representative of one of the fastest growing industries in the world, our focus is to foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and eCommerce. However, the challenges posed by massive software piracy are impeding the progress of this sector. Our agreement with the Kuwait Government is aimed at protecting the intellectual property of our member companies and driving the overall growth of the entire software industry towards the development of new business-critical software and applications,” said Jawad Al Redha, Co-Chairman, BSA Middle East.

Autodesk’s contribution to the anti-software piracy movement in Kuwait is prompted by the alarmingly high piracy rate in the country, which is estimated at 62 per cent. The company shares the goal of BSA to cut back and eventually extinguish the losses incurred from software piracy in the ME region.

“The unlicensed usage of software poses considerable threat not only to the global software market and the players who are investing time, money, and creativity in their products, but to the user himself as counterfeit programs also destroy computer units and cause data loss. We commend the exemplary efforts of the Kuwaiti Government, H.E. Sheikha Rasha Al-Sabah, and BSA in stopping this illegitimate practice, and they can expect Autodesk’s utmost support for the success of this campaign,” concluded Asdaf Al Khalidi, License Compliance Executive, Autodesk.