EU antitrust authorities have asked Microsoft’s competitors what customer data they must submit to the U.S. tech giant as part of their Azure cloud contracts, six months after a trade association complained about Microsoft’s cloud computing techniques.
Several European cloud service providers, including Amazon (AMZN.O), filed a complaint against Microsoft in November, claiming that the company’s Oct. 1 contractual conditions and other activities hurt the European cloud computing ecosystem.
In a questionnaire reviewed by Reuters, the European Commission asked for a list of contractual conditions compelling cloud providers to submit customer data to Microsoft.
According to a representative for the EU executive, “the Commission has received several complaints regarding Microsoft, including in relation to its product Azure,” and these objections are being evaluated using “standard procedures.”
The European Union’s antitrust regulator wanted to know Microsoft’s reporting schedule, timeline, and format and whether the company receives the information directly or through an auditor.
The deadline for recipients to reply was this week.
The EU watchdog questioned whether or not Microsoft used the information to contact the consumers of the recipients.
Microsoft, penalized more than $1.8 billion by the EU for antitrust violations over the past decade, did not want to make any remarks. However, a source claims that it has proposed a solution to CISPE and that discussions are underway.
