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Morgan Meaker
Brussels accused Microsoft of illegally abusing its dominant position in the software market to the detriment of its smaller competitors, following a complaint filed in the midst of the pandemic through its US competitor Slack.
The European Commission said on Tuesday it had found that Microsoft was restricting the festival by promoting its Teams video conferencing software alongside the company’s other popular work teams, such as Office 365 and Microsoft 365, since at least 2019.
“We are implicated that Microsoft is giving its own communications product Teams unfair credit over its competitors, linking it to its popular productivity suites for businesses,” EU festival leader Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. “If confirmed, Microsoft’s conduct would be illegal under our festival rules. “The fees announced Tuesday are only “preliminary notice,” the commission sent a “statement of objections” to Microsoft and the company has 10 weeks once it has won all the main points to respond.
Microsoft’s accusations come the same week that the European Commission also accuses Apple of violating the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act by not allowing app developers to speak freely with their users. For the past decade, the EU has been the de facto regulator of big tech companies. , forcing the American giants to change the way they operate and impose multimillion-dollar fines.
In an attempt to appease Brussels, Microsoft began excluding Teams from some Office packages in July last year. However, the committee said today that those tweaks were inadequate and expressed fear about how easily it was imaginable to use competing conferencing software alongside Microsoft’s other tools, a practice known as interoperability.
“After separating Teams and taking the first steps toward interoperability, we appreciate the increased clarity provided today,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice president and president, said in a statement to WIRED. The company plans to work to find answers to address the commission’s questions. remaining concerns, he added.
If Microsoft and the EU fail to reach an agreement, the Commission has the power to impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s annual international turnover and can impose corrective measures on the company.
The commission opened its investigation into Microsoft Teams following a complaint filed through Slack in July 2020, when there was a fierce festival for remote staff relying on workplace software due to pandemic-related lockdowns. “It’s much more vital than Slack vs. Microsoft,” Jonathan Prince, then Slack’s vice president of communications and policy, said at the time, “It’s a stand-in for two very different philosophies for the long-term virtual ecosystems, gateways and gatekeepers. “
On Tuesday, Sabastian Niles, president and general representative of Salesforce, Slack’s parent company, described the European Commission’s position as “a win for visitor selection and an assertion that Microsoft’s practices with Teams have harmed competition. “
German video conferencing company Alfaview, which filed a complaint with the commission following Slack, also welcomed the decision. Microsoft’s moves so far to separate Teams have been ineffective, Niko Fostiropoulos, CEO and founder of Alfaview, said in a statement. “Existing enterprise consumers who opt out of Teams in the overall package will receive a minimum reduction of €2 ($2. 10),” he said. “It doesn’t offer enough incentive to transfer to the video conferencing service. “
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