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Microsoft is in the crosshairs of a U.K. competition class action - style causa that ’s seeking £ 1 billion ( around $ 1.25 billion at current interchange pace ) in damages . It revolves around accusations related to fees the computer software heavyweight charged businesses and other organizations for licensing Windows Server when they were customers of rival swarm calculation platforms .
The suit , which was file Tuesday in the U.K. ’s Competition Appeal Tribunal , alleges that client of Amazon ’s AWS , Google Cloud Platform ( GCP ) , and Alibaba Cloud had to pay higher fee to use Microsoft ’s software compare to customers of its own Azure swarm calculation service .
The litigation comes against a background ofrising competition complaintsand scrutiny on swarm calculation in late age .
Just last week , Reutersreported that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had open a broad antitrust investigation of Microsoft , including its package licensing and cloud computation business .
The CMA ’s investigating remains on-going , after the guard dog extended the statutory deadlinethis September , so it ’s not ask to describe back until next year . But the litigant plain are n’t waiting to hear its verdict on Microsoft ’s discounts before filing suit .
EU complaint
The tech giant has already paid “ ten of millions in settlements ” over the same practices in Europe , they suggest — pointing to asettlementMicrosoft made with cloud services trade affiliation CISPE in July ( reportedly deserving € 20 million ) , which closedan EU antitrust complaintfiled inNovember 2022 .
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The whiff of a fiscal settlement can chop-chop flip dollar signs into the eyes of judicial proceeding funders , so the CISPE settlement is likely to have contributed to labor forward the U.K. claim . Though it ’s also famed how much higher the headline damages figure is compared to how much Microsoft reportedly paid to fall the EU complaint .
The U.K. causa is being fund by LCM Funding UK Limited , the U.K. office of the international difference of opinion finance supplier , Litigation Capital Management ( LCM ) .
The billion - Egyptian pound U.K. suit has been file by competition police force and digital market regularisation expert , Dr. Maria Luisa Stasi , on behalf of “ thousands ” of local businesses and organizations that the collective action alleges were overcharged for using Windows Server . She takes on all the costs ( and therefore peril ) of the suit , thanks to the funding system with LCM .
Commenting in a statement , Luisa Stasi said : “ Put just , Microsoft is punishing U.K. businesses and organisations for using Google , Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computer science by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server . By doing so , Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud calculation service Azure and limit challenger in the sector . ”
“ This suit aims to take exception Microsoft ’s anti - competitory behaviour , crusade them to reveal exactly how much businesses in the UK have been illicitly penalize , and come back the money to organisations that have been below the belt overcharged , ” she add .
Microsoft customers in the U.K. are being admit on an opt - out basis ( mean they are mechanically part of the action unless they actively take to exclude themselves ) . As noted above , there are no costs for being include in the litigation — with only the potential upside of winning damages if the suit prevails ( or Microsoft settle ) . entity wanting to witness out more selective information about the suit can look up tothe title web site .
Microsoft has been contacted for a answer to the lawsuit .
