‘The cloud market has never been so dynamic and competitive’: Microsoft faces $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over Azure cloud licenses affecting 60,000 businesses
A London-based court recently ruled that Microsoft must face a class-action lawsuit alleging that the tech giant has set wholesale prices for its Windows Server software on competing cloud platforms at higher rates than on its own Azure service.
Competition lawyer María Luisa Stasi brought the suit on behalf of approximately 60,000 UK companies, seeking damages of approximately $2.8 billion. Microsoft’s apparent setting of higher wholesale prices for Windows Server is an anti-competitive business practice. What’s more, the additional cost is passed on to customers who choose to access the product from rival cloud platforms.
Ultimately, this decidedly makes Azure more attractive to customers. The software giant said the lawsuit does not provide a viable method for calculating the stated damages, prompting it to ask the court to dismiss the case. However, the London Competition Appeal Court dismissed Microsoft’s plea and indicated that the case is going to trial (via Reuters).
Speaking to Reuters, a Microsoft spokesperson indicated that: “We also dispute the underlying allegations by the (Stasi) group’s representative, and today’s decision does not make a final determination on those claims.”
That said, Stasi maintains that the court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed to trial was “an important moment for the thousands of organizations affected by Microsoft’s conduct.”
The CMA hopes to address any concerns about Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices and facilitate a level playing field for AIas the technology gains widespread adoption across organizations.
