Dublin-based InishTech debuts today as a new startup relaunching Microsoft Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services, a business unit Redmond booted back in October 2007 following its acquisition of the company Secured Dimensions in January of the same year.

At the end of September 2008, Microsoft stopped accepting new SLPS customers, which we got confirmation of when we researched and reported the quiet shut-down. SLP Services was a software licensing suite that provides developers with the ability to protect code, license software, create license versions, and track performance and profitability of products created with .NET. For more information, you can watch this non-embeddable video.

InishTech, founded through collaboration between Microsoft IP Ventures, Enterprise Ireland and local entrepreneurs Aidan Gallagher, John O’Sullivan and David Smyth, will now take on responsibility for SLP Services’ existing customer base and will “continue to provide, expand and grow the service to independent software vendors (ISVs) and developers around the world”. Microsoft will license its IP to InishTech and maintain a minority interest in the startup.