CAIRO, March 1 (IslamOnline) - Multinational companies struggling for copyright protection in the booming Middle East market could use a fatwa (a religious edict) ruled by Saudi Arabia's top Islamic cleric, labeling piracy "Islamically prohibited," in order to recoup some of their losses.
Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheik said in statements published this week that pirating was "a sin", after the Saudi Chamber of Industry complained about losses incurred because of copyright violations and fake products coming into the country.
Local partners of U.S. software firms say the fatwa, in the mostly religious countries of the Middle East, could immediately help recoup losses from an estimated 63% rate of piracy, the second highest regional rate in the world.
They say the last available figures are for 1999 when piracy in the region cost the international industry $285 million.
Other businessmen said total losses due to fake products, include clothing and household products, in Saudi Arabia alone cost business an estimated one billion dollars.
Al-Sheik said that, "selling imitations as original products, or dealing and distributing them is not allowed, because it cheats Muslims and lies to them."
This is not the first time fatwas related to multinational operations are issued in the Middle East to prop up otherwise endangered businesses.
Last year Egypt's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Mohammed Farid Wassel, issued a fatwa saying that boycotting products by the giant soft-drinks company Coca-Cola was wrong. The Mufti was responding to rumors that the company's decade's old logo was blasphemous to Islam if held to a mirror.
The rumor said the logo read "No Mecca, No Mohammed," when reflected, prompting sales of the soft drinks to drop 20% in Egypt alone. The rumor spread to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and other Muslim countries jeopardizing further profits.
Coca-Cola ran a paid advertisement in local newspapers quoting the fatwa to stem the downturn trend.
