In a move that has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, Microsoft has been hit with a class action lawsuit Tuesday, accusing the company of overcharging U.K. businesses for licenses to its Windows Server software. The case, which could total over £1 billion ($1.3 billion), claims that Microsoft’s pricing structure unfairly discriminates against customers using non-Microsoft cloud services, including Amazon, Google, and Alibaba.
The Core of the Allegations
The lawsuit, filed by regulatory expert Maria Luisa Stasi, accuses Microsoft of penalizing U.K. businesses that rely on platforms like Amazon’s AWS, Google Cloud, or Alibaba Cloud by charging them higher licensing fees for Windows Server compared to customers using Microsoft’s own Azure service.
“Microsoft is punishing U.K. businesses by forcing them to pay inflated prices for Windows Server simply because they aren’t using Azure,” said Stasi, who heads law and policy for digital markets at the human rights organization Article 19. “This isn’t just a pricing issue—it’s a blatant attempt to corner the cloud computing market and push customers into Microsoft’s ecosystem.”
A Competitive Stifling Strategy?
According to Stasi, this practice isn’t just about higher prices; it’s a strategic move designed to drive U.K. businesses away from competitors. Microsoft, which already holds a dominant market share of 70 to 80% in desktop operating systems, is allegedly leveraging its position in the server operating system market to coerce businesses into using its cloud service, Azure, thereby restricting competition.
