French Lawmakers Target Cloud Monopolies

French lawmakers reached a deal to advance fair software licensing for cloud customers, a move welcomed by the Cloud Infrastructure Providers In Europe (CISPE) lobby group. The agreement reached aims to enshrine fair practices in French law, addressing concerns over monopolistic behavior in the cloud computing sector.

The issue of fair competition in cloud computing has attracted attention from various competition agencies globally. In the UK and the US, authorities have been gathering feedback, while the EU is investigating Microsoft’s policies. Google has accused Microsoft of monopolistic behavior, and AWS has raised concerns about Microsoft’s software pricing.

The agreement in France is part of the digital bill, Sécuriser et réguler l’espace numérique (SREN), addressing cloud strategy and data protection. Although not naming specific companies, CISPE has flagged concerns about unfair licensing practices by software vendors, affecting costs for providers and prices for customers.

Amidst these developments, Google has accused Microsoft of wielding a cloud monopoly in the United States, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) has informed the CMA that Microsoft’s software pricing in non-Azure clouds renders alternative options financially unviable for customers.

Source: The Register