A London court has cleared the way for a £2.7bn lawsuit against Microsoft after the Competition Appeal Tribunal certified the case for trial. Nearly 60,000 businesses claim they were overcharged for Windows Server licences when running the software on cloud platforms operated by Amazon, Google and Alibaba. The claimants allege Microsoft set prices that did not reflect standard commercial terms for enterprise software in the cloud.
The case centres on whether Microsoft’s licensing model for Windows Server, when used on third-party cloud services, breached competition rules. The claimants argue that Microsoft’s pricing structure forced them to pay more than they would have if they had run Windows Server on their own servers. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, now moves to the next stage after the tribunal rejected Microsoft’s attempt to have it dismissed.
Microsoft has previously stated that its licensing policies comply with competition law and that it offers discounts for volume purchases. However, the claimants’ legal team says the company’s pricing practices have artificially inflated costs for businesses relying on cloud infrastructure. They point to internal documents and industry pricing benchmarks as evidence that Microsoft’s approach was designed to maximise revenue from cloud providers’ customers.
The lawsuit could set a precedent for how software licences are priced in the cloud era. If successful, it may force Microsoft to adjust its licensing terms for Windows Server when used on external cloud platforms. The claimants are seeking damages estimated at £2.7bn, which would be distributed among the businesses involved if the case succeeds.
The next phase of the legal battle is expected to focus on whether Microsoft’s licensing model constitutes an abuse of its dominant market position in enterprise software.
Source: itavisen.no