Microsoft has reached a deal with a cloud services organization (CISPE) to resolve an antitrust complaint over licensing practices. This agreement avoids a potential European Union investigation and hefty fine.

CISPE, representing companies like Amazon and smaller European cloud providers, filed the complaint in late 2022 to the European Commission. They argued that Microsoft’s licensing terms, implemented in October that year, were harming the European cloud computing market.

While Microsoft is not the industry leader (Amazon holds that title), it is a major player alongside Google. Cloud computing has attracted antitrust scrutiny worldwide.

“We’ve addressed past concerns and created a path for more competition,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith, highlighting collaboration with CISPE.

The agreement includes two key points:

Equal Access: Microsoft will develop a product allowing CISPE members to run Microsoft software on their platforms within Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure, at prices matching Microsoft’s own.

Compensation: Microsoft will compensate CISPE members for licensing-related revenue losses over the past two years (specific amount undisclosed).

What makes Google and Amazon upset
The deal reportedly totals around 20 million euros, but excludes major players like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform. This has drawn criticism from both the companies.

AWS remains committed to fighting for fair practices for all customers, while Google Cloud hopes regulators elsewhere will examine Microsoft’s licensing. CISPE, satisfied with the agreement, will withdraw its complaint and refrain from future complaints on these issues.

In a statement to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Alia Ilyas said that Microsoft was only making “limited concessions for some CISPE members that demonstrate there are no technical barriers preventing it from doing what’s right for every cloud customer.”