Saudi authority cracks down on IP enforcement, piracy

[Chewy_fox]

Those of us following the long saga of piracy against beIN Media by an entity called beoutQ may be surprised to see Saudi authorities cracking down on piracy.

According to World IPR Review, “the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) announced on Friday, January 22, that it had launched inspection campaigns across the country, seizing a total of 11,620 items found to have ‘violated creative rights.'” and the shut-down of “more than 70 infringing Web sites.”

Read the entire story in World IP Review

Further background about SAIP by WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization)

Why it matters

The beoutQ piracy case was widely seen as an operation between nation-state actors, as content stolen from beIN Media was distributed across the Arab world and beyond.  With the many twists and turns of this case, any positive outcome that has the blessings of Saudi authorities is welcome.

These IP enforcement moves by Saudi Arabia could ease the way toward future alliances between Saudi Arabia and global sports leagues.  A Saudi sovereign fund was in the process of acquiring an English Premier League club, which was called off last year, out of concerns that beoutQ had been illegally redistributing EPL programming.

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