Microsoft settles antitrust complaint with CISPE for €20m

微软 has agreed to settle an antitrust complaint with the European cloud services organisation CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) . The deal will see the big tech firm pay out €20m in exchange for the trade body withdrawing its complaint to the European Commission , which claimed that Microsoft manipulated licensing agreements for its software to prevent its cloud computing customers from switching to other providers. It will also reset the pricing of its software and remunerate CISPE’s 27 members for revenues lost because of the big tech firm’s conduct – with the exception of Amazon Web Services (AWS) , Alibaba Cloud and Google Cloud .

The agreement will likely forestall a European Union antitrust investigation and any potential financial penalties that arise from such a probe. Microsoft’s president and vice-chair Brad Smith applauded the deal. “After working with CISPE and its European members for more than a year, I am pleased that we’ve not only resolved their concerns of the past,” said Smith, “but also worked together to define a path forward that brings even more competition to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond.”

CISPE in a two-year battle with Microsoft

CISPE’s complaint about Microsoft’s conduct dates to 2022, when it claimed the company was imposing unfair licensing conditions on its members. The trade body – which includes AWS as well as smaller European cloud providers among its number – had also complained publicly, including to this publication, about other alleged anti-competitive activities of Microsoft’s in the cloud market, including self-preferencing and manipulative pricing arrangements.

“These practices further lock the customer into a relationship with the provider, both contractually and technically, when it comes to portability and switching costs,” said CISPE’s chairman, Francisco Mingorance . “They face a situation where any switching of provider infrastructure, or even the software, is prohibitive cost-wise.”

Microsoft has consistently denied that it engages in anti-competitive behaviour in the European cloud market. “We remain committed to addressing valid licensing concerns,” a company spokesperson said in response to CISPE’s original complaint, adding that the firm supported “a competitive environment where all [cloud] providers can thrive.”

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