VZCZCXRO6664
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #3815/01 2561455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131455Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0314
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003815 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE (KEATS, BOGER), NEA/ELA (RANA, ALLEN) 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR (SAUMS, GROVES) 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO AID 
COMMERCE PLEASE PASS TO USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR PGOV JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN ISSUES FIRST JAIL SENTENCE FOR SOFTWARE PIRACY 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Jordanian judge Nihad al-Hisban, a recipient of 
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) training, recently issued 
the first-ever jail sentence and a significant fine for software 
piracy in Jordan.  This represents a tremendous step forward for 
prosecution of intellectual property (IP) violations in Jordan that 
will serve to deter future copyright crimes.  The National Library 
has forwarded 233 cases of alleged copyright violations to Jordan's 
General Prosecutor in 2007.  The Business Software Alliance (BSA) 
has commended Jordan for reducing software piracy by two percentage 
points in 2006 and keeping software losses to piracy at a steady 
level.  End Summary. 
 
HISTORIC JAIL SENTENCE FOR SOFTWARE PIRACY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) Jordan's First Instance Court of Amman recently sentenced a 
local computer system builder, caught by Jordanian law enforcement 
loading hard-disk pirated software on computers sold at his 
establishment, to a three-month jail term and a fine of JD 1,000 
($1,400).  Microsoft, a member of the BSA, filed the lawsuit after 
it was determined that the culprit's shop was selling pirated 
software with the intent to generate profit. 
 
¶3.  (U) BSA's legal counsel in Jordan, Tawfiq Tabbaa, praised the 
decision to Econoff, noting that this was the first-ever jail 
sentence for software piracy.  COMMENT: The fine was also 
significantly higher than the 50-100 JD penalties typically issued 
in the past.  END COMMENT.  BSA has hired a public relations firm to 
highlight this case in the media, as a way to deter other IP 
violations. 
 
SOFTWARE PIRACY DROPPING IN JORDAN 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Tabbaa highlighted that the 2006 BSA Piracy Study found that 
software piracy in Jordan had decreased two percentage points to 61 
percent, and that software piracy losses in Jordan had been kept at 
the steady level of $19 million in 2006.  Jordan was only one of 
three countries in the region to accomplish this feat, according to 
BSA.  Given that retail shops selling pirated software, DVD's, and 
CD's still seem to be springing up in Jordan, Tabbaa noted that this 
trend was due more to companies becoming increasingly sensible in 
buying licensed software for their businesses. 
 
EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN JUDICIAL IP CAPACITY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) Mamoun Talhouni, the Director of the National Library 
responsible for copyright enforcement, commented to Econoff that the 
recent court decision was critical for deterring future piracy and 
further bolstering serious efforts by the Government of Jordan (GOJ) 
to protect IP rights, which have helped change the mentality of 
people by making them think twice before committing an IP crime.  He 
reported that the National Library has referred a total of 1,869 
cases to the General Prosecutor, 233 of which were forwarded between 
January 1 - August 31, 2007.  The National Library has also made 
approximately ten requests to the Court to permanently close shops 
with copyright violations.  Talhouni noted that the National Library 
often has to raid a shop and confiscate goods several times because 
a court decision is legally needed for permanent closure. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) As part of his efforts to push for stricter sentences on 
copyright violations, Talhouni recently met with the Minister of 
Justice and head of the Judicial Council, who unofficially agreed to 
designate specialized IP judges and district attorneys in each of 
Jordan's courts.  In coordination with the Government of Jordan, the 
USAID-funded SABEQ program is also designing an IP Judicial Training 
Program to support the development of a nucleus of trained 
specialized judges responsible for resolving intellectual property 
disputes and training a second generation of specialized judges. 
Jordan also recently sent eight judges to participate in the 
September USPTO training in Munich. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Jordan has instituted significant legislative 
change in IP over the last few years in part due to commitments 
under the Jordan-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.  While the Jordanian 
courts are receiving an increasing number of copyright and trademark 
infringement cases, prosecution still remains weak, and the GOJ has 
been extremely receptive to exploring various ways to strengthen 
this capacity.  USPTO training has been critical to building 
world-class knowledge of IP laws and policy among Jordanian judges, 
as demonstrated by Judge al-Hisban's participation in previous USPTO 
training and her subsequent historical sentence for software piracy 
in Jordan. 
 
AMMAN 00003815  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
Visit Amman's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
Hale