The Federal Commerce Fee has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, together with of its software program licensing and cloud computing companies, a supply conversant in the matter stated Wednesday.
The probe was accredited by FTC chair Lina Khan earlier than her doubtless departure in January, following the presidential election victory of Donald Trump and the expectation he’ll appoint a fellow Republican with a softer method in the direction of enterprise.
The company is analyzing allegations that the software program large is probably abusing its market energy in productiveness software program by imposing punitive licensing phrases to stop prospects from transferring their information from its Azure cloud service to different aggressive platforms.
Microsoft declined to remark. The FTC didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters’ request for remark.
FTC antitrust attorneys are set to fulfill with Microsoft rivals subsequent week to collect extra details about the expertise firm’s enterprise practices, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday.
Microsoft shares have been down greater than 1% in after-hours buying and selling.
