Just like other big tech firms, Microsoft is facing a lot of lawsuits in different parts of the world. There were reports that Microsoft may become the new target of the European Commission (EC) antitrust probe. The company is getting the attention of the EC because of Slack’s complaint about Teams. Now, a new report confirms that the EC will face Microsoft and it will soon face formal scrutiny.
Multiple EC sources have confirmed that Microsoft will soon face an antitrust probe into bundling Teams with other Microsoft 365 software, according to a Politico report. While details are still unclear, the regulator is reportedly planning to issue a “statement of objection” to how Microsoft is unfairly treating its competitors in an anti-competitive manner. A spokesman for the EC also confirms that a review of the probe is ongoing.
In all of these, the main reason for the focus on Microsoft is the complaint filed by Slack three years ago, in 2020. Slack claims that Microsoft hid the “true cost” when it bundles Teams with the Microsoft 365 product suite. It is also forcing brands to install the enterprise on consumer devices. At the time, Slack is urging regulators to force Microsoft to remove Teams from its Microsoft 365 suite. Slack also wants the company to offer it separately at a “fair” commercial price. The EU has sent questionnaires to all parties involved to gain a better understanding of the matter. However, now is not a good time for Microsoft to face another antitrust probe. Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is currently under scrutiny from some regulators.
Gizchina News of the week
Microsoft fixes outages like Teams, Outlook and OneDrive
Microsoft is probing related network issues after tens of thousands of users around the world reported being unable to access services such as Microsoft Teams and Outlook. In the latest update, the company says it has now “confirmed that the affected services are restored and stable, and is probing some potential impacts to Exchange Online services. In a series of previous tweets from the Microsoft 365 Status Twitter account, the company says it is taking steps to isolate the issue. However, the company did not make any official mention of the extent of the issue.
Microsoft previously said: “We are probing an issue affecting multiple Microsoft 365 services and have rolled back network changes that we believe will have an impact. We are closely watching services when the rollback is in effect.”
Online outage tracker Downdetector shows that nearly 4,000 people were affected in India. In addition, no less than 5000 people in the U.K. had the same complaint about Outlook. There were also reports from Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Also, the outage affects a large number of users in China.
According to Microsoft, more than 280 million people worldwide use Microsoft Teams, across businesses and schools and more. Other services affected by the outage include Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. Microsoft previously said it was also probing connectivity issues with its cloud computing service Azure, which affected “a subset of users.”
Gamers sue Microsoft in US court to block Activision Blizzard deal
Microsoft Corp is in court in the U.S. because some consumers claim the $69 billion deal with Activision Blizzard (Act. Blizz.) will suppress the video game industry. Two weeks after the FTC filed its case before a law judge, it filed a lawsuit in California federal court. The lawsuit seeks to stop the company from buying over Act. Blizz. If this deal pulls through, it will be the largest deal in the video game industry.
The lawsuit seeks to block Microsoft’s deal with Act. Blizz. was filed on behalf of 10 video gamers in California, New Mexico and New Jersey.
