UK human rights organization Article 19's Dr. Maria Luisa Stasi has issued a call for companies in the UK to participate in a £2bn ($2.68bn) lawsuit being levied against Microsoft.

The lawsuit accuses Microsoft of overcharging businesses that use its Windows Server on Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, or Alibaba Cloud. It seeks £2 billion to compensate those companies and organizations impacted.

Specifically, Dr. Stasi alleges that Microsoft's practices have breached section 18 of the Act and/or Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Dr. Stasi said: "If your organization has used Windows Server on Google, Amazon, or Alibaba’s cloud platforms at any point since December 2018, you have likely paid too much money. This legal action seeks to put that to an end.

"Those responsible for IT or cloud contracting at UK organizations should get in touch to potentially win compensation. Billions have been drained from budgets as a result of Microsoft’s licensing practices.

"Cloud costs are soaring for UK businesses. Getting in touch does not commit you to anything, but could result in your business or organization clawing back budget for IT costs.”

The legal action is set to return to court on 11 December 2025, to decide whether it will proceed to trial.

Dr. Stasi registered the case with the Competition Appeal Tribunal in December 2024. Organizations can register their interest at UK Cloud Claim.

The call for businesses to come forward cites the recent Competition Markets Authority investigation in the UK into the cloud computing market, which found that competition was "not working well" in the sector in July 2025.

It is currently investigating whether Microsoft should be given a "strategic market status" which could see it facing further scrutiny over business - and licensing - practices.

DCD has approached Microsoft for comment.

Update -

A Microsoft spokesperson told DCD via email: “This is an opportunistic attempt by a law firm and its private funders to piggy-back on baseless complaints Google has made and which we’ve all addressed or rebutted. We enable our cloud competitors to profit by offering our products to their cloud customers, and our competitors set their own prices when they do this.”