Sawt Falasteen - Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services

Google said Microsoft had exploited business customers' reliance on "must have" software products such as Windows Server to compel them to use its Azure cloud platform.

Microsoft has made it cost-prohibitive for clients to use Windows Server or other products on rival services, such as Google Cloud or Amazon's AWS, by marking up the price by 400 percent, Google charged.

"Microsoft's licensing terms restrict European customers from moving their current Microsoft workloads to competitors' clouds –- despite there being no technical barriers to doing so," Google Cloud vice president Amit Zavery said in a blog post co-signed by Google Cloud's Europe region president Tara Brady.

For businesses that use rival cloud platforms despite the cost, "Microsoft introduced additional obstacles over the last few years, such as limiting security patches and creating other interoperability barriers", Google said.

At a news conference, Zavery said Google wanted restrictions removed so that customers could use the cloud platform of their choice.

"We believe this regulatory action is the only way to end Microsoft vendor lock-in and for customers to have a choice and create a level playing field for competitors," Zavery said.

Google said Microsoft adopted the new licensing terms in 2019.

"What Microsoft introduced in 2019 basically created this idea of not allowing choice to customers," Zavery said.

A spokesperson at the European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, confirmed that the complaint was received, adding that "We will assess under our standard procedures".

The complaint was filed on Tuesday.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company "settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating".

"Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission," the spokesperson added.

- Clash of tech titans -

Google and Microsoft have feuded for years over antitrust issues.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last year testified against Google in a US federal court alleging that its business practices had stymied the rise of rival search engines.

Microsoft was also involved in the original complaints in the EU against Google in the 2010s over its search dominance, which resulted in major fines against Google.

About a decade ago, the companies agreed to a truce, but that proved to be only temporary.

The European Commission has already opened an investigation into Microsoft's Teams video and messaging app.

Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.

But in June, the commission indicated that the changes were not enough, saying Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling Teams with its popular Office suite.

Google and other big US tech firms have come under scrutiny from the European Union, as Brussels has been fighting with the companies for years on issues ranging from data privacy to disinformation.

Google has been hit by a variety of fines totalling more than eight billion euros ($9 billion) over antitrust issues.

The company got a reprieve earlier this month, however, as an EU court scrapped a 1.5-billion-euro fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.

W.Mansour--SF-PST