Egypt steps up crackdown on copyright piracy

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Egypt is stepping up efforts to control rampant piracy of copyrighted material, officials said Thursday, after the United States put the country on a watch list of 12 countries that could bring economic sanctions. But police and judicial authorities are deeply understaffed, and government bureaucracy holds up the effort to enforce copyright laws, Justice Ministry officials acknowledged at a workshop on piracy held in Cairo. "The real problem is in the enforcement for an effective protection of intellectual property rights," Hassan Badran, a ministry adviser said.