Microsoft is facing a UK lawsuit over allegations that it is charging businesses higher licence fees for using Windows Server software, while also trying to force them into using its cloud computing service Azure. Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi claims that British businesses and organisations could collectively be owed more than £1 billion in compensation.
Stasi alleged that Microsoft’s new licensing fees for running its software on major cloud providers were used to induce customers to use Azure, limiting competition in the sector. This claim comes as UK regulators are investigating cloud computing, a market dominated by Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft’s Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
The lawsuit is part of a broader antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s cloud computing business, led by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which opened an investigation last month. The FTC is examining allegations that Microsoft was potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from switching to competitive platforms.
Data from the Competition and Markets Authority showed that Microsoft won customers at a significantly higher rate than other cloud providers since it introduced new licence fees for running its software on major cloud providers.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-faces-uk-lawsuit-over-cloud-computing-licences-2024-12-03