Cracking down on pirates

Since, for decades it seems, the Lebanese government has generally been unwilling or unable to protect Intellectual Property rights, it should come as no surprise that multinational corporations are pushing for governments to collectively punish the country.
In one prominent example, the International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA) said in its recently released 2005 report that U.S. copyright industries lost $31 million last year because of piracy in Lebanon.”
The Association’s recommendation: “Lebanon must take concrete steps toward eradicating piracy…otherwise, its trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSS) should be suspended.”
The report ominously added that in the first 11 months of 2004, Lebanon imported more than $31.1 million worth of products into the United States without duty under GSS, “or a staggering 45% of its total imports into the U.S.”
Of course, even if one of the most obvious IP issues is tackled successfully – mainly, cable piracy which is estimated at almost 90 percent in Lebanon and which cost the Finance ministry $12 million in lost revenue last year – the IIPA report said end-user piracy of software and pre-recorded music and films is still widespread “among large companies, banks, trading companies, and most government ministries.
What’s more, “There are only four, part-time inspectors in the [Beirut] Department of IP Protection. In the area of software piracy, these inspectors lack computer knowledge [and] startlingly, these officers only work until 2 p.m. and won’t work with computer experts.”
In one particularly troubling case of bureaucratic inanity, the IIPA said that even when inspectors were charged with raiding a pirate reseller at 4 p.m. at a computer fair, the inspectors said the raid could not go forward because it was “after working hours.” Plus ca change…