EXTENDING STATE SUPPORT: Srini Koppolu, Vice-President and Managing Director of Microsoft, with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at the inauguration of the new Microsoft facility at Cyberabad on Wednesday. Minister for IT P. Sabita Indra Reddy a nd K. Ratnaprabha, Secretary IT Services, are also seen. — PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Microsoft Corporation, the IT giant with its India development centre located in Hyderabad, has urged the State Government to take steps to protect intellectual property and copyrights of the companies that have established their operations here.

Microsoft India Development Centre Managing Director Srini Koppolu said that the Government should take more licences for the use of Microsoft products rather than using the same software across the departments. "We asked Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to ensure that IP is honoured in all Government departments," he said. He was speaking at a meeting got up in connection with the inauguration of the new building at the Microsoft campus on Tuesday.

Discussions

The Chief Minister who formally inaugurated the building and inspected the facilities said that the Government would depute officials from the departments concerned to hold discussions with Microsoft representatives in this regard. He assured the Government's fullest support to the institutions like Microsoft that were also taking up social activities.

Explaining about the infrastructure that was being created to fuel the growth in the industry, Dr. Reddy said the Government was taking necessary steps to make Hyderabad "the destination city". In this regard, he recalled the heated debate in the Legislative Assembly on the Outer Ring Road project earlier in the day and said there were several questions and counter-points raised on the issue.

"Absolutely human"

The Government was, however, firm on going ahead with the infrastructure development. But, it would at the same time, take adequate care to see that the people displaced by the projects "feel that life after displacement is better". The Government was "absolutely human" in this direction and would compensate all those affected by the projects suitably.

Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Koppolu said plans were afoot to increase Microsoft's head count in the country to 7,000 from the existing 4,000 by 2009. The newly inaugurated building had been developed over an area of four lakh square feet and would take the total seating capacity to 3,000.

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