American IT giant Microsoft has announced that it will no longer sell the online conferencing service ``Teams'' and business software ``Microsoft 365'' as a set worldwide. As European regulators are keeping a close eye on the lock-in business conducted by giant IT companies, the company has changed its global sales policy.
Microsoft previously sold ``Teams'' in addition to ``Microsoft 365,'' which includes the word processing software ``Word'' and the spreadsheet software ``Excel.''
Last year, the European Commission, the European Union's enforcement agency, began investigating the company for possible violations of EU competition law, which falls under antitrust law, after a competitor filed a complaint.
Following this investigation, Microsoft suspended sales of the set in Europe.
Then, on the 1st, we expanded this sales policy and announced that we would no longer sell sets worldwide.
It is possible to continue with the existing contracts.
The EU is keeping a close eye on the lock-in business of large IT companies that give preferential treatment to their own services.
In March, it began full-scale enforcement of the Digital Markets Act, which aims to ensure fair competition, and began investigating Google's parent company Alphabet, Apple, and Meta for suspected violations of the law. I am.