Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Microsoft's ‘anti-competitive’ software resale practices lead to £270 million lawsuit, UK vendor claims

Microsoft's ‘anti-competitive’ software resale practices lead to £270 million lawsuit, UK vendor claims

Microsoft has been accused of violating EU and UK competition law by attempting to kill the market for the resale of perpetual licence products like its Office suite in a lawsuit filed by a vendor claiming £270 million in damages.

In its case in the High Court of Justice in London, British reseller ValueLicensing (VL) has said that the tech giant’s general licensing terms and conditions for its business-to-business software products infringe on the UK’s Competition Act (1998), the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the European Economic Area agreement.

According to the particulars of VL’s claim, the company alleges that Microsoft is abusing its dominant position in the “desktop operating system” and “office productivity suite” markets to persuade customers to exchange licences in return for heavily discounted subscription-based models.

"Microsoft has effectively been paying those customers (via those discounts) to protect Microsoft from competition, by restricting the supply of pre-owned licences to Microsoft’s competitors like VL."


This conversion from licensee to subscriber has cut out intermediaries like VL, whose business model involves purchasing and reselling such secondhand licences from companies that have “either migrated to cloud services”, downsized or gone out of business.

Additionally, VL alleges that Microsoft “recently shortened the support period for its perpetually licensed products” as part of a “sustained – and ongoing – campaign to stifle the sale of pre-owned licences for Microsoft software in the UK and EEA.”

It cited as an example of such restrictive practices the recently announced five-year support period for Office 2021 as opposed to the seven-year period of total support offered to Office 2019 consumers. Historically, the company’s policy was to offer 10 years of support, with bug fixes, security updates and tech support.

It also noted the increasing complexity of Microsoft’s licensing terms and conditions, which “until February 2021 were regularly published as a single document; the last English version ran toover 75,000 words.” These conditions are now spread over a number of webpages on its site.

Although filed in April, details of VL’s lawsuit only came into the public domain after Microsoft Corporation in the US and its two co-defendant subsidiaries UK-based Microsoft Ltd. and Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd. acknowledged receiving legal notice earlier this month.

“Once a licence is placed onto the market in Europe, it is protected from the vendor effectively, they have exhausted their rights once it is placed onto the market,” VL managing director Jon Horley told news portal The Register.

While Microsoft has not commented on the case, it has reportedly signalled its intent to contest the lawsuit. The software giant is preparing a jurisdictional challenge to contest the London High Court’s standing to hear the case. This is likely to be heard only early next year, according to the outlet.

Although VL estimates it is suffering damages to the tune of £87,000 daily (roughly $121,000) in addition to the overall loss of some £270 million (about $375 million) in revenue, Horley said there were “many different ways” for his company to “stay in the game.”

“I’ve stayed in the game for 17 to 18 years. However long this takes, I’ll stay in the game as far as this part is concerned,” he told the site.

If the contracts are struck down and voided, it would have far-reaching repercussions across Europe and the UK for Microsoft’s licensing and sales divisions.

A victory for VL, Horley stated, would effectively mean that “almost every single organisation, and then any organisation that has signed up to [Microsoft’s alleged anti-competitive] terms, is effectively party to an [allegedly] anti-competitive agreement. And that includes governments, for example, in the UK with a digital transformation arrangement,” as cited by The Register.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×