US Authorities Investigate Allegations of Microsoft Using Gifts to Illegally Attract Users

Has Microsoft tricked various US authorities into paying customers with an unfair enticement offer without there being a simple way out? The US trade regulator FTC now has to clarify this question after allegations were made against the software giant.

Authorities lured with free security solutions?

According to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). FTC according to Bloomberg launched an investigation focusing on Microsoft’s business practices. The software company may have acted illegally by initially offering US authorities the use of certain products free of charge before later making a long-term commitment for a fee.

The ProPublica portal initially reported that Microsoft was said to have used a possibly illegal sales strategy. After the high-profile security incidents of the last few years, the group offered to some US authorities to make certain cybersecurity solutions available free of charge as part of their existing Office contracts, it is said.

However, the security solutions were only offered free of charge in a kind of test phase, which is why after the end of this period there was suddenly a commitment to Microsoft, which is why the authorities now have to pay additional expenses for the products that were previously available free of charge. Among other things, it is criticized that Microsoft itself was responsible for the massive security problems with its software.

The fact that the company then tried to profit from vulnerabilities in its products with its own security solutions even before the authorities protected them is viewed by some observers as unfair competition. Microsoft argues according to the report by providing the security solutions in response to the authorities’ urgent need for protection following the attacks. The FTC should now examine whether Microsoft’s actions constitute a violation of US competition law because the company could have illegally gained an advantage over the competition.