Dubai: The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a non-profit trade association created to advance the goals of the software industry and its hardware partners, felicitated the winners of the Pan Arab Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Media Awards 2009 during a ceremony held in Qatar on Sunday.
The awards, given to five categories, were established by the BSA in association with Microsoft to encourage media to contribute more significantly in combating piracy and ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights.
Naushad K. Cherrayil of Gulf News won the runner-up award for the Best Investigative Piece along with 10 other journalists from across the Arab World. Naushad has won this award for the third consecutive year.
The first and second place winners of the Best News Article category were Mohammad Al Farah, Al Sharq newspaper, Qatar and Dana Halawi, Daily Star, Lebanon.
Winners of the Best Opinion Piece category were Fadi Al Halabi, Future TV (Tawasul), Lebanon who secured first place and Samir Mahmoud, Shabab Maser, Egypt who secured second place.
Bashar Abu Leil, Al Watan, Qatar and Mohammad Ghazal, The Jordan Times, were the first and second place winners in the Best Feature Article category.
The first place award for Best Investigative Piece category went to Ayat Mohamad Said Al Fiki, ICT News, Egypt, while Naushad K. Cherrayil, Gulf News, UAE secured the second place.
First and second place winners in the Best Interview category went to Inas Esmail, Al Aalam Al Youm, Egypt and Mahmoud Nasheet, Akhbar Al Khaleej, Bahrain.
Jawad Al Redha, BSA co-chairman in the Gulf Region, said: "Qatar was chosen as the venue due to its progressive IT development policies. It is included among the best IT-enabled countries in the Middle East in the World Bank's Knowledge Economy Index.
"The Qatar Ministry of Justice has been especially active in enforcing IPR laws throughout the country and is a staunch supporter of the BSA's anti-piracy awareness campaigns."
