14 sett 2023 anni - 2023: Computer World: EU proceeds with anti-trust suit over Microsoft Teams. "Bundling" lock-in practice is key problem

Descrizione:

EU said to be proceeding with Microsoft Teams antitrust investigation
Two weeks after Microsoft announced it would start unbundling Teams from Microsoft and Office 365 in an attempt to avoid an EU antitrust investigation, the proposal has reportedly not done enough to satisfy regulators.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Share by Email Print resource
Charlotte TruemanBy Charlotte Trueman
Senior Writer, Computerworld | SEP 14, 2023 10:21 AM PDT

european union flags
Shutterstock
The European Union is reportedly planning to move forward with a formal complaint against the way Microsoft sells Teams, even though the company publicly announced in August it would start unbundling the collaboration app from Office and Microsoft 365 packages in Europe.

Under the proposed plan, Microsoft would separate out Teams and sell its 365 application suites to customers within in the EU for a discounted annual rate, starting October 1.

“These changes … are designed to address two concerns that are central to the Commission’s investigation: that customers should be able to choose a business suite without Teams at a price less than those with Teams included; and that we should do more to make interoperability easier between rival communication and collaboration solutions and Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites,” Microsoft said in a blog post announcing the changes.

[ 14 best practices for Microsoft Teams video meetings ]
However, these changes have not done enough to satisfy regulators and the European Commission — the executive and regulatory branch of the EU — is now preparing a statement of objections to send to the company, according to a report from Bloomberg.


=====
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-14/microsoft-facing-formal-eu-complaint-over-teams-video-app?leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg

Microsoft Corp.’s attempt at avoiding deeper European Union scrutiny of its Teams video-conferencing app fell flat with the bloc’s antitrust enforcers readying a formal complaint against the firm’s conduct.

Microsoft’s recent proposal to split its Teams from a broader business software package and sell it to customers separately with an annual discount wasn’t enough to satisfy regulators’ concerns, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The European Commission is preparing a statement of objections to send to the company, which could come in the next few months, the people said.

At the end of August, Microsoft attempted to allay concerns raised by the EU’s antitrust arm as part of a new investigation into how it ties Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages. The EU’s investigation followed a complaint from Salesforce Inc.’s messaging platform Slack some three years ago.

Microsoft and the commission both declined to comment on the EU’s next steps.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft faces at least two other complaints filed to EU regulators. They include one by a European cloud group with Amazon.com Inc.’s AWS among its members that accuses Microsoft of using unfair licensing practices to lure EU customers to its cloud infrastructure.

Another, filed by German cloud platform NextCloud GmbH in 2021, complains about Microsoft bundling its OneDrive cloud system with Windows.

Microsoft is also facing an investigation from the EU’s digital antitrust regulators, who are examining whether its Bing, Edge and Advertising services should come under the scope of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, which lay out a series of dos and don’ts for major tech companies.

Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:

Data: