On July 3, 1999, Oman started enforcing its Copyright Law after a 7-month grace period.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is taking measures against stores selling pirated software, as it did regarding pirated phonograms, and will follow up compliance with the law. It is trying to spread awareness among Omani merchants seeking to join the World Trade Organization and implementing the TRIPs Agreement as one of the pre-requirements.
The task groups of the Ministries of Trade and Industry and National Heritage & Culture have been on searching campaigns since the beginning of the year and have seized pirated audio and video records. Now the Ministry is working on the same mission regarding computer software diskettes and CD-ROMS to ensure compliance with the law. A follow-up programme was made by a committee which listed all the companies dealing in computer software.