LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) faces legal

action in Britain over a claim that thousands of businesses

using cloud computing services provided by Amazon ( AMZN ), Google and

Alibaba could be paying higher licence fees to use Windows

Server software.

Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi filed a case at the

Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claiming that British

businesses and organisations could collectively be owed more

than 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) in compensation.

"Put simply, Microsoft ( MSFT ) is punishing UK businesses and

organisations for using Google, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Alibaba for cloud

computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server,"

she said.

"By doing so, Microsoft ( MSFT ) is trying to force customers into

using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting

competition in the sector."

Separately, Britain's competition regulator is investigating

cloud computing, a market dominated by Amazon's ( AMZN ) AWS, Microsoft's ( MSFT )

Azure and, to a lesser extent, Google Cloud Platform.

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) licensing practises, for example for its Windows

Server and Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365 products, are part of its inquiry.

It is due to update on its investigation imminently.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) in 2020 introduced new licence fees for running

its software on major cloud providers.

The claim alleges it then used the fees to induce customers

to use its Azure platform.

Data from the Competition and Markets Authority published in

May showed Microsoft ( MSFT ) was winning customers at a significantly

higher rate than other cloud providers since it made the

licensing change.

The United States Federal Trade Commission last week opened

a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft ( MSFT ), including its

cloud computing business, according to a source familiar with

the matter.

The FTC is examining allegations the software giant was

potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by

imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from

moving from Azure to competitive platforms, sources said last

month.

($1 = 0.7891 pounds)