Egypt Records Drop in Software Piracy, Reforms Boost Foreign Investment

Egypt has seen a two per cent drop in its software piracy rate to reach (59 per cent), the United States-based Business Software Alliance said in its recent study, released recently.

The study revealed that Egypt managed to decrease the commercial value of the unlicensed software, which declined significantly from $157 million in 2015 to $64 million in 2017.

The survey quantified the volume and value of unlicensed software installed on PCs across more than 110 national and regional economies in addition to surveying more than 22,500 consumers and employees in 32 countries who use PCs at home or at work.

Globally, Egypt now has lower piracy rates than some of other global outsourcing contenders including Morocco (64 per cent), the Philippines (64 per cent), Vietnam (74 per cent), and Sri Lanka (77 per cent).

This is the second consecutive year that Egypt’s piracy rates have fallen.

Last July, the Egyptian parliament; backed by two thirds of parliament’s 596 members, passed the cyber-crime law that helps in mitigating the cyber threats and establishes rules and measures to be followed by the local ISPs.

The law, which legalises the digital evidence for the first time in the Egyptian jurisprudence, aims also at stamping out any information inciting violence or hatred, addressing various other types of computer crimes including hacking, fraud, or any attack on private and public information systems and networks.

“Over the past several years, the government has taken tough measures to crack down on the illegal use of software,” Egypt’s IPR office manager, Dr. Mohamed Hegazy said, while commenting on the BSA study’s findings.

“We have managed to create a conducive business environment through modernizing the legal framework and law enforcement, combating piracy, and protecting intellectual property rights,” he added. Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced the Cabinet’s approval on the data protection and privacy draft law that, as reported, embraces the new EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

“We are working on a comprehensive strategy for increasing the attractiveness of Egypt to international investors building on our momentum and the ICT sector’s growth which we believe will remain robust,” Acting CEO of Egypt’s IT Industry Development Agency, Maha Rasha said.

“The country has the right mix of capabilities that qualifies it to be an ideal hub for global operations and business innovation which is thriving and booming like never before.”