EU investigates Microsoft for first time in more than a decade

This is the first formal investigation into Microsoft by the EU in more than a decade. The European Commission (EC) is concerned that Microsoft gives Teams an unfair advantage and denies users choice when subscribing to its office suite. Microsoft may also have limited interoperability between Office and Teams' rival products.

Microsoft said it would cooperate with the commission and was committed to finding solutions to address concerns.

Microsoft accused of hindering competition by integrating Teams into Office. (Photo: Zuma Press).

The investigation stems from a 2020 complaint filed by business messaging app Slack, which accused Microsoft of forcing companies to install Teams and not allowing them to uninstall the app. Slack has since been sold to software company Salesforce.

Last week, video conferencing service Alfaview filed a similar complaint, arguing that Microsoft's Office integration gave Teams an advantage that would be difficult to match without regulatory intervention.

The legal battle between Washington and Brussels over Microsoft was one of the most prominent events of the early digital age. The US government sued the Windows maker in the 1990s, accusing it of abusing the dominance of its software to squeeze out rivals in the Internet browser market. The two sides eventually settled the case.

In Europe, antitrust complaints resulted in a lengthy dispute and a total of €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in fines against Microsoft between 2004 and 2013.

Microsoft's integration of Teams into Office is very similar to previous disputes. In the 1990s and 2000s, antitrust authorities focused on the practice of bundling Internet Explorer and Media Player with Windows operating systems.

In recent years, Microsoft has largely escaped the radar of Washington and Brussels, as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have turned their sights to a new wave of “giants” such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google, over issues related to tax, privacy, and antitrust.

Brussels is also expanding its control over the tech industry, enacting new laws that will allow oversight of the world's largest tech companies and enforce new competition and content rules.

Opening a formal investigation is an important step in competition investigations in Europe. The Commission can either file formal charges if it finds evidence or drop the case.

Workplace software like Teams and Slack have become essential during the Covid-19 pandemic as people began working from home. Teams has more than 300 million monthly active users, according to the company’s figures earlier this year.

European competition chief Margrethe Vestager said the commission must ensure the market for remote communication and collaboration tools remains competitive, with companies free to choose the product that best meets their needs.

(According to WSJ)

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