Microsoft’s cloud fees lawsuit gets green light

Another day, another courtroom cameo

Microsoft just got told it can’t shrug off a huge UK lawsuit. A London tribunal ruled on Tuesday that the company must face a mass claim alleging it overcharged thousands of British businesses for using Windows Server software on cloud services run by Amazon, Google, and Alibaba.

What’s the beef?

The allegation is pretty simple: if you wanted to run Microsoft software on rival clouds, you may have been charged more than you should have been. That’s the kind of thing that makes regulators, competitors, and class-action lawyers perk up like someone just announced free pizza.

Why investors should care

This isn’t just courtroom drama for the sake of it. The suit is seeking about £2.8 billion, which is not exactly pocket change. Even if Microsoft ultimately fights it down or beats it entirely, legal overhangs like this can keep investors guessing about cloud margins, licensing power, and how aggressive the company can be when it packages software across its ecosystem.

Big picture: Microsoft’s cloud engine is still a monster, but this is a reminder that dominance can come with a side of litigation.