The Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade has launched a crackdown to reduce the level of pirated and counterfeited goods in the country, The Daily Star reported.
"The Lebanese government is stepping up raids in addition to offering free software to businesses in the efforts to discourage pirating," said Mr. Fadi Makki, general-director of the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
In addition to raids, the Lebanese government is also offering incentives to small and medium-sized businesses to stop using pirated IT software. The Ministry in cooperation with Microsoft will provide Internet cafes with a total of $20,000 worth of software for $295 per cafe as an annual subscription fee.
The government has also increased fines, ranging up to LL75 million ($50,000), for pirating and counterfeiting.
"Apart from the raids against pirated trademarks, we are encouraging intellectual property holders to complain to us. This has been working as we receive every now and then a list of music shops that sell pirated CDs," Mr. Makki pointed out.
Mr. Makki also said that the Ministry is starting a public relations campaign focusing largely on schools. The aim is to convince people that if intellectual property was respected globally, prices on consumer goods would drop.