Oman reseller jailed for software piracy

A computer reseller in Oman has been jailed for six months for software piracy offences.

The unnamed reseller was caught following a raid by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in which the reseller was found to have been selling PCs loaded with unlicensed copies of Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2007.

An Oman court found the reseller to be in breach of article number 23/1 of the Oman Intellectual Property Rights law number 37/2000, and sentenced him to six months imprisonment. The court also ordered the reseller to pay OR 2,000 ($5,195) to Microsoft as compensation.

The raid was initiated by Microsoft, acting in its capacity as a member of the Business Software Alliance.

Jawad Al Redha, IPR Manager, Microsoft Gulf, said "As one of the leading players in the global IT community, it is Microsoft's role to help its partners in the government fight criminal activities such as software piracy and other intellectual property rights violations. We are pleased with the results of our collaboration with our counterparts in Oman and witnessed the improved anti-piracy performance so as to enjoy the enormous economic benefits of a piracy-free society."