EU Opens Cloud Antitrust Probes Into Amazon, Microsoft Under Digital Markets Act

Attendees at Amazon.com Inc. annual cloud computing conference walk past the Amazon Web Services logo in Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 30, 2017. Salvador Rodriguez/Reuters File PhotoThe European Commission (EC) has initiated market investigations into Amazon and Microsoft to determine whether their cloud computing businesses should be subject to stricter regulation under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).The EU’s executive branch announced the launch of three probes on Nov. 18, two of which will examine whether Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers under the DMA, even though the companies do not currently meet the law’s quantitative thresholds for size, user numbers, or market dominance.