The first training course for Judges in the Middle East, on the protection of intellectual property with regards to the information technology field, was held in Cairo, Egypt. It was attended by representatives from 13 Arab countries.
A number of foreign experts from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Federation of Computer Software Producers also attended the course and provided their own insight and expertise.
The purpose of the course, which was held for two days, was to expose the judges to a vast array of information pertaining to piracy, copyright laws, the importance of software production in the Arab countries, the international agreements for the protection of copyrights, the future of the internet and e-commerce.
Ashook Sharma, the regional manager of the Business Software Alliance based in Washington, stated that computer production is the fastest growing industry in the world and that Arab countries need to invest heavily in IT and start to impose effective intellectual property protection or else they will risk missing out on their share in the market.