The committee considering violations at the Ministry of Information (Internal Information) passed decisions penalizing violators of the press and publication regulations and the copyright law. The penalties included closing down 99 shops, three of which had their
licenses revoked. Other penalties involved closing down the shops for one week to two months, in addition to compensating the proprietors of the infringed copyright. The said committee also issued a group of decisions that involved different penalties including financial fines and closing down the violating shops. The issued decisions pertaining shops totaled 179, while the decisions pertaining individuals totaled three.
Mesfer Al-Mesfer, the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Information for Internal Information Affairs, pointed out that the said decisions were issued in compliance with the press and publication regulations and the copyright law and with the consent and approval of Dr. Fouad Ben Abdul-Salam Al-Farisi, the Minister of Information.
He also added that the financial fines imposed upon the owners of the shops, managers and workers amounted to SR 991,000.50. Moreover, Al-Mesfer added that last week, two shops were temporarily closed down due to the existence of annexes used for illegal copying of software and films. In addition to that, more than 10,000 video films and more than 120 video sets and televisions used for the copying process were confiscated from the said two shops