Tokyo, Japan – Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has conducted an inspection of the Tokyo offices of Microsoft Japan as part of an inquiry into a possible breach of the country’s anti-monopoly legislation.
The regulator carried out the on-site inspection on Wednesday amid suspicions that the technology company may have imposed conditions affecting the use of its software on competing cloud platforms.
According to NHK, authorities are examining whether Microsoft restricted customers from operating its software on rival infrastructure services such as those provided by Amazon and Google, which compete with its Azure cloud business. The company is also suspected of applying elevated fees.
The FTC is assessing whether Microsoft’s market position in software may have been used to impede competitors’ efforts to attract customers in the cloud computing sector, where competition among major technology groups has intensified. The regulator is expected to examine how the relevant commercial arrangements were determined and to review communications between Microsoft Japan and its parent company in the United States.
Meanwhile, Reuters also reported that the investigation centres on whether Microsoft limited Azure clients’ ability to use alternative cloud services, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter. An individual, who was not named because the information is not public, mentioned that the authorities are reviewing contractual terms that may have constrained access to widely used software on other cloud environments.
Japan’s FTC declined to comment on the situation. A spokesperson for Microsoft Japan shared that the company is cooperating fully with the regulator’s requests. Japanese authorities are likely to seek clarification from Microsoft’s US headquarters as part of the investigation.
Further updates are expected once Japan’s FTC and Mircrosoft provides additional information.
