01:57 PM EDT, 07/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Microsoft ( MSFT ) and European cloud trade group CISPE have reached an agreement concerning the group's antitrust complaint filed against Microsoft's ( MSFT ) cloud computing licensing practices, CISPE said Wednesday.

The agreement requires Microsoft ( MSFT ) to resolve licensing issues or release a version of Azure Stack HCI for European cloud providers within nine months, along with the establishment of an independent European Cloud Observatory to monitor and evaluate the product, CISPE said in a statement.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) will pay CISPE members a lump sum amount to cover litigation and fair software licensing campaign costs incurred in the last three years, according to the statement.

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Amazon Web Services unit, Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Cloud platform and Alibaba's (BABA) Alibaba Cloud subsidiary are excluded from the negotiations and are unaffected by the agreement, CISPE added.

AWS is a member of CISPE.

"After working with CISPE and its European members for more than a year, I am pleased that we've not only resolved their concerns of the past, but also worked together to define a path forward that brings even more competition to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond," Microsoft ( MSFT ) President Brad Smith said in statement to MT Newswires.

"Despite denying its licensing practices harm customers and competition, Microsoft ( MSFT ) is now making limited concessions for some CISPE members that demonstrate there are no technical barriers preventing it from doing what's right for every cloud customer," an AWS spokesperson said. "Unfortunately, this settlement does nothing for the vast majority of Microsoft ( MSFT ) customers who are still unable to use the cloud of their choice in Europe and around the world. We continue to stand with the growing number of customers, providers, and regulators globally who are calling on Microsoft ( MSFT ) to end its discriminatory practices for all customers."

Neither Alphabet nor Alibaba immediately responded to requests for comment by MT Newswires.

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