European antitrust watchdogs sniff around Microsoft cloud licensing deals

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The European Commission is starting to gently probe allegations against Microsoft of anti-competitive practices in the cloud computing industry as it pertains to the company’s licensing rules.

A questionnaire seen by newswires Bloomberg and Reuters was dispatched last month and follows multiple complaints from local providers including OVHcloud and NextCloud, against the Redmond-based Azure public cloud giant.

“We can confirm indeed that the commission has received the complaint,” the EC reiterated in a statement.

Points of interest include whether Microsoft is making it more challenging or more costly for smaller cloud companies to run some of the programs including Windows and Office on rival clouds or if “technical adjustments” are required. Those being quizzed were also asked if they feel it is necessary to incorporate Microsoft products or services into their own infrastructure service “in order to compete more effectively.”

The EC is interested how the licensing terms local cloud providers’ customers receive from Microsoft compare to those that Microsoft itself sells to its own customers, under the Azure Hybrid Benefit Program. This gives customers a discount incentive to run, for example, Windows Server in Azure rather than a rivals’ cloud infrastructure.
 

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