$ 249 million in Middle East losses due to forged software

The software industry union in Abu Dhabi assured that the losses for its industry in the Middle East due to piracy have increased to 78% and reached 249 million dollars last year.

While there is a decrease in piracy of sold software (copied) and increased awareness and legislation passed to deal with the problem, the increasing losses are due to the strong growth in computer sales.

According to a report of the international planning research's corporations, the Middle East area and Africa have the second highest rates of software piracy in the world after Eastern Europe.

Emirates in considered the only country in the area in which the piracy rate is less than 50%, followed by decreasing piracy rates in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and ending with Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Lebanon where the piracy rates in are more than 80%.