Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE),
whose members include Amazon, alleged last November that Microsoft’s new
contractual terms imposed on Oct. 1 together with other practices were harming
the European cloud computing ecosystem.
In a questionnaire sent to cloud providers seen by Reuters,
the European Commission asked recipients for a list of contractual clauses
requiring these companies to report information about their European customers
to Microsoft.
“The Commission has received several complaints regarding
Microsoft, including in relation to its product Azure, which we are assessing
based on our standard procedures,” a spokesperson for the EU executive said.
The EU competition enforcer wanted to know about the
frequency of the reporting, the period for which the data is requested, the
format of the reporting and whether the information is sent directly to
Microsoft or to an auditor.
Recipients, who were given until this week to respond, were
asked whether there were contractual, actual or threatened consequences for not
complying with these clauses.
The EU watchdog asked if Microsoft may have used the
information to go directly to the recipients' customers.
Microsoft, hit by more than 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion)
in EU fines in the previous decade for various antitrust violations, declined
to comment.
It has made an offer to CISPE in a bid to settle the issue
and talks are ongoing, according to a person familiar with the matter.