Common view of Microsoft Company headquarters at Issy-les-Moulineaux, close to Paris, France, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Picture
BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators are quizzing Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) rivals and clients 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 U.S. 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 (OVH.PA) and two different firms filed complaints about Microsoft’s cloud practices.
“The Fee has info that Microsoft could also be utilizing its probably dominant place in sure software program markets to foreclose competitors relating to sure cloud computing providers,” the questionnaire stated.
Regulators requested if the phrases in Microsoft’s licensing offers with cloud service suppliers permit rivals to compete successfully.
Additionally they need to know if firms wanted Microsoft’s working programs and productiveness functions to enhance their very own cloud infrastructure providing as a way to compete successfully.
Firms additionally had been requested concerning the variations in license charges and business 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 providers along with their very own.
One other focus was potential technical limitations on cloud storage providers out there on firms’ cloud infrastructure.
“We’re repeatedly evaluating how we are able to greatest help companions and make Microsoft software program out there to clients throughout all environments, together with these of different cloud suppliers,” Microsoft stated in an emailed assertion.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager earlier this week stated she has no considerations but about cloud computing and cited the competitors from Europe’s Gaia-X initiative. learn extra
($1 = 0.9060 euros)
Writing by Foo Yun Chee; Modifying by Invoice Berkrot
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