Saudi Arabia has blocked 231 websites in a major crackdown on piracy infringements.
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) organized an online inspection campaign of websites and platforms that were suspected of violating intellectual property laws, including sites based outside the Kingdom, to monitor and analyze for possible breaches.
The sites listed included streaming service websites, encrypted sports channels, websites that offer to download books in PDF form, and unlicensed websites that offer downloading and music streaming services that violate user rights.
SAIP has also detected websites that are selling subscriptions for encrypted TV channels through software or illicit streaming devices for the purpose of displaying materials in an illegal format.
SAIP confirmed that these practices violate copyright protection law and entail financial penalties and fines that may reach up to SR250,000 ($66,000).
In addition to the applied fines, the violations may cause the closure of sites, or the cancelation of commercial licenses, and in some cases could lead to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
The authority stressed that it would not tolerate nor condone such violations, and called upon citizens and residents to support its efforts to respect intellectual property rights through communicating via its official channels.
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