Dubai – The Dubai Court of First Instance ruled in favor of Industry Networks FZC (BNC) in a data protection case filed against “WIDA specified by” and its Director, as well as two other parties that were involved in the infringement.
The defendants had been accused of using a BNC subscription for project intelligence in violation of the terms of service and the UAE copyright law. The forensic digital investigation that was validated by multiple court experts found that the copyrighted project intelligence compiled by BNC was illegally accessed, copied and illegally republished as their own research on the website www.wida-me.com which claims to sell project intelligence data.
The parties involved with the case were involved with using multiple business fronts to avoid detection and prosecution. During the investigation, it was also found that the site WIDA-specified which had its ownership concealed, was selling its services in the UAE without a local business registration.
The efforts at deception and concealment by the involved parties were exposed by the technical investigation conducted by BNC’s investigators and the team at Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants, which identified and proved beyond doubt the egregious data breach of BNC intelligence, which was extracted using a subscription taken in the name of a different party from the one that illegally copied the data.
The Dubai Court ruling requires the defendants to immediately remove all copyrighted material from www.wida-me.com and pay monetary compensation for the copyright breach.
“We are very pleased with the judgment by the Dubai Court that recognizes the intellectual property that BNC has created over the last 18 years and continues to create every day,” said Avin Gidwani, the Founder and CEO of the BNC Network.
The judgment by the Dubai Courts is extremely significant in establishing the strength of the country’s laws to ensure digital data protection and the protection of intellectual property. With the country’s focus on creating a knowledge economy, the case is a powerful example that will inspire confidence in entrepreneurs and international businesses that are looking to build and grow their technology and knowledge-centric businesses in the UAE.
About BNC
BNC is the flagship construction intelligence and business automation service created by Industry Networks FZC.
BNC was launched in 2003 to create a digital network that connects businesses within the construction industry in creative new ways to increase transparency and efficiency. BNC offers a state-of-the-art project-sales CRM system pre-integrated with the largest project database in the Middle East & Africa. BNC’s services are used by thousands of construction professionals across the world everyday.
With over 31,800+ live construction projects value estimated at US$11.8 trillion, BNC’s coverage spans 64 countries and 5 sectors including urban construction, oil & gas, transportation, utilities, and industrial. BNC publishes a quarterly construction report called the BNC Projects Journal and the BNC Bulletin, a daily construction newsletter received by over 68,000+ professionals.
