CAIRO: "This is just the beginning; it is considered an achievement that we succeeded in decreasing software privacy rates by three percent, said Hazem Nabil, director of the intellectual property rights department at Microsoft. "It is the first time that Egypt reaches the average rate of piracy in the Middle East and Africa, we always used to be above the average, Nabil said. Software piracy rates in Egypt dropped by three percent, down from 63 to 60 percent, according to a recent report issued by the International Data Corporation (IDC). Egypt's rating is now one percent below the global median piracy rating (61 percent) for 2007. The research group had predicted the figure would climb to 68 percent in 2007/08. "Considering the number of new users that has entered the field of IT this is considered among the fastest decreasing piracy rate, Nabil added. The drop in piracy rates is in line with efforts by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT)'s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to make Egypt a leading outsourcing location for software. This year the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency said copyright piracy in Egypt costs about LE 20 billion ($3.72 billion) annually. Earlier, the International Intellectual Property Rights Alliance, a private anti-piracy watchdog, marked Egypt at 4.4 on its annual intellectual property rights index, about half a point lower than the world and Middle East regional averages. The IDC report, conducted across 108 countries, looks at the impact of the piracy of all packaged software that runs on personal computers, including desktops, laptops and ultra-portables. The report results were accompanied by a decision by the American commercial representation office to remove Egypt from the list of countries monitored for copyrights violations. In 2004/05 and 2005/06 piracy rates decreased by just 1 percent. Last year when the piracy rate was 63 percent, loses reached $88 million; while this year, although the percentage dropped, loses reached $131 million due to the large number of new users. Experts estimate that a 10-point decrease in piracy rates lead to an economic development of $325 million and $190 million revenues from local industry and created 850 new jobs. The decrease also encourages foreign investments, especially American investments, in Egypt. Egypt now has lower piracy rates than some of the other leading global outsourcing locations including Morocco (67 percent), the Philippines (69 percent) and Bulgaria (68 percent). "We are trying to combat piracy by raising awareness among users and sellers. Also, we offer packages that economically suit the Egyptian user like the PC for Every Home Initiative, Nabil said. In its efforts to combat software piracy, ITIDA issued 2,858 licenses for software companies and internet cafes, registered 893 new computer software programs and issued 156 copyright licenses. The office has also trained 1,623 judges and police officers on copyrights and their economic importance as well as applying copyrights laws in the fields of software and databases. For its part, the MCIT is establishing partnerships with multinationals in the ICT sector to provide cost-effective solutions addressing the requirements of the end-user and increasing legal protection for application and system software in Egypt. Piracy is now a crime punishable with a LE 5,000 fine, destruction of pirated copies and could reach a jail sentence if the offence is repeated. "The environment has improved a lot with the cooperation of ministries and governmental organizations. This has encouraged investors to put their money in Egypt, Nabil said. "We should aim at reaching piracy rates within the 50s, he added.
