UK Tribunal Hears Landmark £2.1 Billion Cloud Licensing Lawsuit Against Microsoft
December 12, 2025
A pivotal legal challenge against Microsoft's cloud software licensing practices has reached the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), marking a significant escalation in global regulatory scrutiny of the cloud computing sector. The case, which seeks damages of £2.1 billion (approximately $2.8 billion), underscores growing concerns about market dominance and competitive fairness among the world's largest technology providers.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2024 by Dr. Maria Luisa Stasi on behalf of potentially thousands of UK businesses. It alleges that Microsoft engaged in anti-competitive practices by overcharging organizations that run its Windows Server software on rival cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud. The claim argues this constitutes a "coherent abusive strategy" designed to maintain Microsoft's dominant market position.
During a hearing to determine if the case can proceed to a full trial in 2026, Microsoft's legal team requested the lawsuit be dismissed. The company contended the claim lacks a proper framework for calculating and distributing alleged losses. In a statement to the press, Microsoft had previously characterized the suit as an "opportunistic attempt" to leverage complaints made by competitors, asserting that "our competitors set their own prices" when offering Microsoft products.
The tribunal's decision on whether to grant a Collective Proceedings Order, which would allow the case to proceed as a collective action, is pending and could take weeks or months.
This legal action arrives amid heightened regulatory examination of the cloud infrastructure market. Earlier this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded an investigation, finding that competition in the cloud sector was "not working well" and that AWS and Microsoft warranted further investigation for potentially holding "strategic market status." Microsoft's licensing terms were specifically cited as a concern. In a parallel development, European Union watchdogs launched a probe into US cloud providers under the Digital Markets Act in November.
The outcome of this £2.1 billion lawsuit could have profound implications for the global cloud industry, potentially forcing changes to how software is licensed across different cloud environments and setting a precedent for similar actions in other jurisdictions.
Source: datacenterdynamics
UK Tribunal Hears Landmark £2.1 Billion Cloud Licensing Lawsuit Against Microsoft
