Microsoft must face $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licences

Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi is bringing the lawsuit connected behalf ​of astir 60,000 businesses that tally Windows Server connected rival unreality platforms. Her lawyers person antecedently said the assertion was worthy up to 2.1 cardinal pounds ($2.8 billion).

They argued astatine a proceeding past twelvemonth that the businesses were overcharged due to the fact that ‌Microsoft charges higher wholesale ⁠prices for Windows Server than for users of Azure, costs that are passed connected to customers and marque Azure cheaper ⁠than Amazon's AWS oregon Google Cloud.

Microsoft said Stasi's lawsuit failed to acceptable retired a workable method for calculating immoderate alleged losses and should beryllium thrown out.

But London's ​Competition ​Appeal Tribunal certified the lawsuit to proceed ​towards trial, an aboriginal measurement ‌in the proceedings. Microsoft did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Stasi said successful a connection that the ruling was "an important infinitesimal for the thousands of organisations impacted by Microsoft's conduct".

Microsoft argued astatine past year's proceeding that its vertically integrated concern exemplary - utilizing Windows Server arsenic an input for Azure portion ‌also licensing it to rivals - tin payment ​competition.

Regulators successful Britain, Europe and the U.S. are ​separately examining the practices of ​Microsoft and different firms successful unreality computing.

Last July, an enquiry ‌group from Britain's Competition and Markets ​Authority said Microsoft's ​licensing practices reduced contention for unreality services "by materially disadvantaging AWS and Google".

Microsoft said astatine the clip the study had ignored that "the unreality marketplace ​has ne'er been truthful ‌dynamic and competitive".

Last month, the CMA said it would again analyse ​Microsoft's bundle licensing practices successful the unreality market.

($1 = 0.7402 pounds)

(Reporting by ​Sam Tobin. Editing by Mark Potter)