![EU accuses Microsoft of abusing dominant position with Teams](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/4a/b1/12/EU-accuses-Microsoft-of-abusing-dom-391391.jpg)
-
'Lucky' Sinner defeats big-hitting Berrettini to reach Wimbledon third round
-
Messi a doubt for Argentina ahead of Copa quarter-final
-
British tennis ace Raducanu votes for 'lie-in' on election day
-
France film director Jacquot charged with raping two actors
-
Israel 'evaluating' new Hamas 'ideas' on halting Gaza war
-
Venezuela, US agree to 'improve relations,' says Caracas
-
Under-fire Kenya govt says to review state salary hikes
-
Thousands told to flee raging California wildfire
-
Osaka focuses on Olympics after Wimbledon KO
-
Tens of thousands flee south Gaza as tensions soar
-
US Fed officials stressed 'patience' on rate cuts: minutes
-
Blond not bombs as Fognini learns to love Wimbledon
-
New lithium plant inaugurated in Argentina
-
Threads hits 175 mn users on first anniversary
-
French court says Netflix shark hit can keep streaming in copycat row
-
Comeback king 'Cav' to carry on doing the thing he loves
-
Alcaraz marches on at Wimbledon as Osaka returns to Centre Court
-
Biden under pressure as Democratic panic rises
-
Belarus frees 'some political prisoners': exiled opposition leader
-
Alcaraz coasts into Wimbledon third round
-
Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win
-
Everton sign forward Ndiaye from Marseille
-
Bailed Indian opposition leader to return as chief minister
-
World's oldest artwork discovered in Indonesian cave
-
Toney urges England to kick on after Euros reprieve
-
Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon mixed doubles
-
Former England rugby coach Jack Rowell dies aged 87
-
Hurricane Beryl bears down on Jamaica
-
US trade deficit expands less than expected in May: govt
-
'The god took away my son': Indians grieve after deadly stampede
-
Moscow hit by heat not seen in over a century
-
US private hiring eases unexpectedly in June: ADP
-
Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash 'won't be my last game'
-
Paris bars to open 24h for Olympics opening ceremony
-
Putin, Xi vie for influence at Central Asian summit
-
Germany, Sweden arrest eight over Syria crimes against humanity
-
French giant Mpetshi Perricard joins Wimbledon heavy artillery
-
Two-time Major winner Langer to make 'emotional' European Tour bow
-
French PM urges united front to stop far-right takeover
-
Olympic silver medallist gymnast Poujade dies at 51
-
Bhole Baba: preacher at centre of Indian stampede disaster
-
Microsoft to invest 2.2 bn euros in Spain data centres
-
Showdowns, young guns and own goals as Euro 2024 head into quarter-finals
-
Russia advances in east, kills five in Dnipro strikes
-
France prosecutors request rape charges against film director
-
Schumacher blackmail suspects had 'family photos'
-
EU clears Lufthansa's proposed ITA Airways stake, with conditions
-
Indian World Cup winners head home after hurricane delay
-
120,000 'stolen' babies: Georgia's trafficking scandal
-
Only far right can win absolute majority, French PM warns
![EU accuses Microsoft of abusing dominant position with Teams](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/4a/b1/12/EU-accuses-Microsoft-of-abusing-dom-391391.jpg)
EU accuses Microsoft of abusing dominant position with Teams
Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling its Teams communications app with its popular Office suite, Brussels said on Tuesday, as the US tech giant vowed to do what it takes to address competition concerns.
The charge sheet comes after the European Commission, the EU's influential antitrust regulator, launched a probe last year triggered by a 2020 complaint from Slack.
The commission informed Microsoft of its "preliminary view" that it had "breached EU antitrust rules" by bundling Teams with its cloud-based Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites, which include Word, Excel and Powerpoint programmes.
Even before the charges, Microsoft tried to assuage the EU's concerns by untying Teams in Europe before expanding the policy to around the world in April.
The EU also had worries that Microsoft may have limited interoperability between Teams' competitors and its own offerings, although the company in September 2023 introduced "improvements" to make it easier for rivals.
But the commission said Microsoft's changes did not go far enough.
"The commission preliminarily finds that these changes are insufficient to address its concerns and that more changes to Microsoft's conduct are necessary to restore competition," it said in a statement.
The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said "Microsoft now has the opportunity to reply to our concerns".
The company will be able to offer commitments to avoid a large fine and president Brad Smith has indicated Microsoft would be willing to take further steps.
"Having unbundled Teams and taken initial interoperability steps, we appreciate the additional clarity provided today and will work to find solutions to address the commission's remaining concerns," Smith said in a statement.
Slack had lodged its complaint as its market share diminished, and it has since been bought by the company Salesforce.
There is no deadline for the formal inquiry to wrap up.
Should the outcome of the probe go against Microsoft, it could face a heavy fine or other ordered remedies.
Microsoft has come under greater European scrutiny in recent months.
EU regulators are looking into Microsoft's partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to determine whether it is a disguised merger.
The commission also received a separate complaint in late 2022 from Amazon-backed cloud trade group CISPE against Microsoft over its cloud licensing practices.
The two sides are currently seeking to resolve the issue through talks.
T.Batista--PC