Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cablegate: US Embassy Changes Saudi Laws and Practices for Microsoft, Helps Shut Down Saudi Stores

Cablegate



Summary: A demonstration of how -- with help from the US government -- Microsoft was able to influence affairs overseas and also raid shops that spread Microsoft products

THIS morning we showed a few cables from Saudi Arabia. Microsoft was trying to change laws and practices there, in order of course to better accommodate Microsoft's profit model, not to help Saudi citizens. Well, this leaning on the government -- helped by US officials -- seems to have paid off. We've just found another Cablegate cable from exactly 2 years ago. It shows the role of the BSA behind the scenes too:










VZCZCXRO5063 PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR DE RUEHRH #1202/01 2571429 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 141429Z SEP 09 FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1567 INFO RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 001202

SIPDIS SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/ARP (HARRIS, BERNDT) AND EEB/TPP/IPE DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR (BUNTIN)

E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON, ETRD, KIPR, SA SUBJECT: Microsoft and Saudi leaders cite progress on IPR

Ref: Jeddah 297

1. (SBU) Summary: The Saudi Ministry of Culture continues to make progress working through a backlog of cases of suspected copyright violators. The Ministry reports it has closed several stores for brief periods until they resolve copyright violations. It plans for the first time to refer a repeat offender to the Board of Grievances. The Ministry supports greater public relations efforts to increase awareness of IPR issues, and it is willing to work with industry on training and awareness campaigns. Meanwhile, local Microsoft representatives tell us they have seen the Saudi government show improvement in both attitude and enforcement, and they confirmed to us that one computer store has been closed for IPR violations. The company remains willing to work with Saudi ministries to provide training and increase awareness, although they still say enforcement could be stronger, including within the SAG. End summary.

Microsoft exec: Saudi record on IPR has improved... --------------------------------------------- -------

2. (SBU) On September 8, Fernando De Sousa, Microsoft's chief operating officer in Saudi Arabia, paid a farewell call on Charge Ambassador Erdman, thanking him for the Embassy's strong support on IPR issues. The Ambassador briefed De Sousa on his recent conversations with Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza (reftel), in which the Minister reiterated Saudi Arabia's commitment to fulfill all of its WTO commitments to protect intellectual property. The Minister had said he welcomed the interest of companies like Microsoft in supporting SAG enforcement efforts, including through training. Econ Counselor also briefed the Microsoft team on recent conversations with Assistant Deputy Culture Minister for Internal Information Abdulrahman Al-Hazzaa, who also welcomed cooperation with Microsoft and other companies on training and public awareness campaigns.

3. (SBU) Hazzaa reported that the Ministry of Culture and Information is processing the backlog of IPR enforcement cases that had been awaiting review by the violations review committee, finishing an average of 7 a week, and on track to finish reviewing all old cases by the end of September (the committee was meeting in the adjoining room while Econoffs called on Hazzaa). Hazzaa said that this will allow the committee to focus on bringing new cases from inspectors, which will help improve awareness of enforcement efforts. Hazzaa reported that, as a result of the committee's reviews, several shops have been closed with the posting of large public notices explaining why until the owners come and settle their fines with the Ministry. The point, according to Hazzaa, is to impress upon store owners that they cannot sell pirated goods with impunity. (Microsoft reps separately confirmed they are aware of one computer store having been closed down and said that closures may help stores selling legitimate software compete if enforcement is seen as more pervasive.) Hazzaa also reported that increased Ministry inspections and enforcement efforts have disrupted the ability of black market vendors to sell a range of pirated products. Econoffs have observed a reduction in the public sale of pirated software and other items, like movies, over the last year. Microsoft representatives agree that there has been some reduction in street-level sales, although they believe stores in malls continue to sell pirated software.

4. (SBU) Hazzaa also reported that the committee had found one commercial entity had engaged in so many violations that the committee has recommended, for the first time, that the case be sent to the Board of Grievances with a recommended fine of SR 100,000. He explained that the Minister of Culture and Information will have to approve this referral, and he promised to push hard for this approval, noting that this will send an important message to the Saudi public and business owners that the Ministry is serious about enforcing copyright laws.

... and the issue now is sustainment ------------------------------------

5. (SBU) De Sousa told the Ambassador that there has been improvement in IPR copyright protection in the last several years, although he said the issue now is to make this improvement sustainable. He also stressed Microsoft's willingness to support efforts by the Ministries of Culture and Commerce to publicize enforcement efforts and assist public campaigns to raise awareness of IPR issues.

6. (SBU) Despite the improvement in the overall climate, De Souza noted that problems remain. He noted that Microsoft has discovered a software activation key licensed to the Ministry of Interior has been used in Pakistan and other south Asian countries to attempt to register product upgrades. The Ambassador suggested that Microsoft work with the Business Software Alliance and other companies to come up with a white paper listing specific problems on which it would be

RIYADH 00001202 002 OF 002

useful to have greater cooperation with the SAG, including the Ministry of Interior.

7. (SBU) Comment: The Embassy will continue to work with the Ministries of Culture and Commerce and with industry representatives to foster agreement on a public relations campaign to increase awareness about IPR issues. We will also continue to support industry offers to provide training to SAG inspectors, and efforts to achieve SAG support to allow an audit of its own software to ensure it does not exceed its existing license requirements. End comment.

MUENCH







As one of our readers put it earlier today, "More and more, governments act as butlers for big companies."

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
 
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol