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EU antitrust regulators are quizzing Microsoft’s rivals and prospects about its cloud enterprise and licensing offers, a questionnaire seen by Reuters confirmed, in a transfer that might result in a proper investigation and renewed scrutiny of the US software program firm.
The European Fee has fined Microsoft a complete 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) within the earlier decade for breaching EU antitrust guidelines and for not complying with its order to halt anti-competitive practices.
The corporate discovered itself on the EU competitors enforcer’s radar once more after German software program supplier NextCloud, France’s OVHcloud and two different corporations filed complaints about Microsoft’s cloud practices.
“The Fee has data that Microsoft could also be utilizing its probably dominant place in sure software program markets to foreclose competitors relating to sure cloud computing companies,” the questionnaire mentioned.
Regulators requested if the phrases in Microsoft’s licensing offers with cloud service suppliers permit rivals to compete successfully.
In addition they need to know if corporations wanted Microsoft’s working methods and productiveness purposes to enrich their very own cloud infrastructure providing with a view to compete successfully.
Firms additionally had been requested in regards to the variations in license charges and industrial phrases between the licensing offers with cloud service suppliers and one other programme by which they package deal and not directly resell Microsoft’s cloud companies along with their very own.
One other focus was potential technical limitations on cloud storage companies obtainable on corporations’ cloud infrastructure.
“We’re repeatedly evaluating how we will greatest help companions and make Microsoft software program obtainable to prospects throughout all environments, together with these of different cloud suppliers,” Microsoft mentioned in an emailed assertion.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager earlier this week mentioned she has no issues but about cloud computing and cited the competitors from Europe’s Gaia-X initiative.
Supply: Reuters
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