REDMOND (dpa-AFX) - Software behemoth Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is reportedly facing a $1.27 billion antitrust lawsuit in Britain over allegations that the company unfairly overcharged customers of rival cloud companies.
The lawsuit alleges that U.K. businesses are forced to pay more to license Microsoft's Windows Server software on rival firms' clouds than its own Azure platform.
Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi filed a case at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claiming that British businesses and organizations could collectively be owed more than 1 billion pounds or $1.27 billion in compensation.
Microsoft offers a cheaper price to firms running Windows Server on Azure than on direct competitors like AWS, Google's cloud or Alibaba Cloud.
The lawsuit argues that firms running the widely used server software are essentially being overcharged for using alternative cloud computing solutions.
It also adds that Microsoft uses its dominant market position in cloud-based server operating systems by extracting higher prices and inducing customers to move to Azure.
'Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organizations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server,' Stasi, who is head of law and policy for digital rights advocacy group Article19, said in a statement shared with CNBC.
'By doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector.'
She added the lawsuit 'aims to challenge Microsoft's anti-competitive behavior, push them to reveal exactly how much businesses in the UK have been illegally penalized, and return the money to organizations that have been unfairly overcharged.'
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