Punjab partners unite against Microsoft

After having faced the wrath of Microsoft's ongoing anti-piracy campaign, the
IT channel community of Amritsar and Jalandhar are all set to take certain
measures against the company's dual standards towards piracy. The growing
dissent may push the vibrant channel community to keep away from selling
Microsoft products.

"So far there are about eight companies that have been penalized in Amritsar
and the monetary penalties sometimes range up to Rs 30,000. I strongly feel that
a company like Microsoft should not have gone down to this level. They talk
about educating the partners, and yet there is no representation of Microsoft in
Amritsar, it was all being executed by their legal team here. If the company is
serious about curbing piracy, it should first educate partners and not punish,"
explained, Upkar Singh Sethi, President, Amritsar-based Association of Computer
Entrepreneurs.

Rajiv Khanna: The channel community of Jalandhar is now looking at aligning itself with other regional associations who are protesting against Microsoft's campaign

Keeping in mind the kind of damage inflicted on the channel community, the
association is now set to put up a strong front against the global software
major. "All our 62 members are going to hold a meeting next week to discuss our
future course of action on this. We are business minded people and do not want
to fight with a big company like Microsoft. But now the company is going way too
far and we really need to do something about the issue," he added.

Microsoft has already started issuing letters to the channel community of
Jalandhar as well. With nowhere to go, the channel community of Jalandhar is now
looking at aligning itself with other regional associations who are protesting
against Microsoft's campaign. "There are about eight such companies that have
received letters with regard to the anti-piracy campaign. We are going to
discuss this issue with other associations in the region and decide our future
course of action," informed, Rajiv Khanna, President, Jalandhar Computer Dealers
Association (JCDA).

When contacted about the issue Microsoft's official spokesperson said that
the channel community is very important for the company's operations and the
company is ready to work closely with local associations on this issue. "Our
anti-piracy initiative is directed towards eradicating the menace of piracy. We
do feel the importance of channel community and we are ready to discuss future
course of action with the local associations," the spokesperson added.