Microsoft fights $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licences

Microsoft was on Thursday accused of overcharging thousands of British businesses to use Windows Server software on cloud computing services provided by Amazon, Google and Alibaba, at a pivotal hearing in a 2.1 billion-pound ($2.81 billion) lawsuit.

Regulators in Britain, Europe and the United States have separately begun examining Microsoft and others’ practices in relation to cloud computing.

Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi is bringing the case on behalf of nearly 60,000 businesses that use the Windows Server on rival cloud platforms, arguing…