On the 25th (local time), Google requested intervention from the European Union (EU) competition authorities, claiming that Microsoft's (MS) cloud computing business practices are restricting fair competition.
On the same day, Google announced that it had filed a complaint with the EU Commission accusing MS of violating antitrust laws. Google alleges that MS is preventing European customers from moving or switching from MS's cloud computing platform, Azure, to other competing cloud platforms.
Google pointed out, "MS's cloud licensing terms impose restrictions or penalties amounting to as much as 400% (in the form of termination fees) despite there being no technical barriers for customers to switch to competing clouds." It also claimed, "MS is the only cloud provider using such strategies, causing significant harm to European businesses and governments."
In response, MS stated in a press release, "We expect Google to fail in persuading the European Commission," and predicted that the EU Commission would dismiss Google's complaint.
This is not the first time complaints have been raised about MS abusing its market dominance in the cloud market. In November 2022, the 'Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe' (CISPE), an industry group including members such as Amazon, filed a report with the EU Commission alleging that MS's cloud contract terms violated competition laws. Subsequently, CISPE withdrew the complaint in July after MS agreed to pay €22 million (approximately 32.8 billion KRW) individually.
Separately from this issue, MS is also under investigation by the Commission regarding the 'tying' practice of its video conferencing application Teams. In June, the Commission provisionally concluded that the tying practice of Teams violated antitrust laws. If this investigation's results are finalized, MS could face fines amounting to up to 10% of its global annual revenue.
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