Regulators against Microsoft: anti-competitive cloud practices targeted
The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly about to open a formal investigation against the Redmond giant. It would make office 365 incompatible with rival services
2' min read
2' min read
Anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominant position. The Federal Trade Commission is accusing Microsoft of heavy charges, and the US regulator is considering opening an investigation. In the crosshairs is the cloud computing business of the giant led by Satya Nadella.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, quoted by the Financial Timese, the FTC is investigating allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in the productivity software sector by imposing punitive licensing conditions to prevent customers from moving their data from the Azure cloud service to competitors' platforms. A dispute that years ago also caught on in Italy and Europe, with small players accusing the giants of such practices (In the European Union, Microsoft avoided a formal investigation into its cloud business after entering into a multi-million dollar agreement with a group of rival cloud providers last July, ed.)
Tactics under scrutiny include substantially increasing subscription fees for those who leave, charging large exit fees, and alleged incompatibility of Office 365 products with rival clouds.
The Federal Trade Commission has not yet formally requested any documents or other information from Microsoft as part of the investigation, but the matter would be forthcoming.
A move to challenge Microsoft's cloud business practices would mark the latest attack on Big Tech by current FTC chair Lina Khan, who has focused her tenure on aggressively curbing the monopoly powers of companies like Meta and Amazon. Last attack because with the change in the White House, Khan is set to be replaced.
