Software Alliance has announced that the Omani Ministry of National and Cultural Heritage has intensified its efforts in fighting thefts of computer programs through a series of crackdown on eight companies using and trading in unlicensed programs.
The Saudi newspaper Al Jazeera said that this action is part of Oman’s steps to provide an environment that would encourage investment in the field of developing the local and other programs related to IT industries. The scale of program copying in the Sultanate is on the gradual decline and is expected to continue so due to the measures taken against software piracy.
The daily newspaper cited the regional manager of Software Alliance, Jawad Rida, as saying that the Omani culture ministry showed its willingness to cooperate in controlling the illegal copying of IT programs. The ministry has started sending notices to the companies violating the law reminding them of the intellectual copyright and giving them the opportunity to obtain licenses for their programs, the official said, The ministry will take the legal actions against the companies that do not respond to these notices.
The ministry’s task force that cracked down on the eight pirating companies confiscated about 190 PCs loaded with the software of many companies including Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, Corel and Autodisc, said the report.
“From the legal point of view, the use of unlicensed programs in daily operations is a theft crime that leads to losses in the revenues of the programs’ developers. The costs of the software programs should be paid in the proper way particularly if their users obtain income through the use of these programs,” Rida explained – Albawaba.com
