Wednesday, December 28 2005 09:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dubai: A Dubai-based Indian journalist has won the prestigious Arab IPR Media Award 2005 for his reportage on anti-piracy drive in the Arab world.

Isaac John of 'Khaleej Times' won the award for his 'insightful reportage about the challenges and opportunities in forging an effective anti-piracy drive in the Arab world'.

The award was constituted by Business Software Alliance (BSA), a global organisation dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world, Co-Chairman of BSA (Middle East) Jawad Al Redha said.

John a veteran of 25 years in Gulf media has won three Pan-Arab awards in a row in 2005, a rare distinction for an Indian journalist in this region.

He was one among the recipients of the award, distributed at a gala function here yesterday (Dec 27, 2005), including Mahmoud Saberi (Gulf News), Thair Soukar (Channel Arabic magazine), Mohammed Mousa (Al Khaleej) and Haider bin Abdel Redha (Oman Daily).

Soukar won the award for his investigative report on software and hardware counterfeiting while Saberi received the laurels for his article on UAe's efforts to combat piracy.

Mousa's 'dissective' analysis of the methods of software pirates and means of combating the menace won him the recognition. Abdel Redha was recognized for his articles on Intellectual Property Rights violation in emerging markets.