The majority of government investigation has focused on the other four major US internet behemoths: Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc., Google-parent Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc., and Inc.
The corporation has positioned itself as having learned from its own antitrust battles, which occurred two decades ago when the US Department of Justice and the European Union sued the company for its business practices. Microsoft has for some time been out of the spotlight amid governments going after large tech giants. OVHcloud divulged that other companies had also filed a suit along with them, without naming any. In a statement, the spokesperson said, “Cloud providers enjoy many options to provide cloud services to their customers using Microsoft software, whether purchased by the customer or the partner," adding that “we’re continuously evaluating how we can best support partners and make Microsoft software available to customers across all environments, including those of other cloud providers.” It alleges that Microsoft's software hinders competition by impeding its performance on other cloud services.Ī spokesperson for OVHcloud said, “Through abusing its dominant position, Microsoft undermines fair competition and limits consumer choice in the cloud computing services market."Ī Microsoft spokesperson declined to clarify whether the company had been alerted of the allegation but stated that European cloud firms are developing successful businesses with Microsoft technology. OVH filed the suit last summer but it was not previously reported on. According to persons familiar with the case, the complaint focuses on how Microsoft licenses its goods, such as its Office productivity suite, which may make it more expensive to utilize cloud services that compete with Microsoft's Azure cloud. The complaint was filed with the European Commission, the European Union's top competition authority, according to OVHcloud. Tech regulators have grown increasingly concerned with big tech regarding anti-trust issues and anticompetitive behavior, tax payment, privacy matters, data handling, and more. This would be a rare instance in which major state actors probe two tech giants from Silicon Valley to foil competitors. French cloud-computing company OVHcloudĪ French cloud computing firm OVH Groupe SAS has filed an antitrust lawsuit in Europe against Microsoft, adding to previous criticism of the company's competitive tactics at a time when other tech titans have been subjected to increased public scrutiny.ĭays ago, the European Union and the UK have opened formal antitrust investigations into whether Facebook's owner, Meta Platforms Inc., and Google sought to illegally cooperate in digital advertising.Other companies which provide workplace apps include Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O), Alphabet's Google, Facebook (FB.O) and Cisco (CSCO.O). The questionnaire asked if the COVID-19 had boosted demand for workplace apps and how this will evolve post-pandemic. Rivals were asked for a list of customers who have switched to Microsoft Teams or its bundled Office, the percentage of revenue they had lost as a result, as well as the impact of the integrated products on their investments in innovation and the quality and price of their products.
It has also asked about barriers to entry or expansion in the workplace apps market, switching costs for customers and the importance of user data protection. This has prompted the Commission to ask if bundled products give companies access to data that may increase their market power in both markets and at the same time make it harder for rivals, in particular those with only product, to compete. company refused to provide information which would allow rival products to work with Teams and Office.
It said Microsoft pre-installs the workplace chat, it was difficult to un-install and that the U.S. Slack alleged that tying or bundling Teams with Office was illegal and urged the EU competition agency to separate the two. Microsoft, which has been handed 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in EU fines for cases involving so-called tying and other practices in previous decade, declined to comment.
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