# Business Operations, IT Operations, Legal, Microsoft, Software Licensing, Vendors and Providers

Published articles for Business Operations, IT Operations, Legal, Microsoft, Software Licensing, Vendors and Providers.

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## An undisclosed Microsoft presentation is now central to a multi-million dollar antitrust fight

DevFeed: [An undisclosed Microsoft presentation is now central to a multi-million dollar antitrust fight](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/an-undisclosed-microsoft-presentation-is-now-central-to-a-multi-million-dollar-antitrust-fight-50557.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.cio.com/article/4223626/an-undisclosed-microsoft-presentation-is-now-central-to-a-multi-million-dollar-antitrust-fight-2.html>)

Author: Taryn Plumb

Published: 2026-09-18T00:19:13Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [CIO](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/cio.md>)

Topics: [Microsoft](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/microsoft.md>), [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>), [Cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cloud.md>)

Tags: [amazon](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/amazon.md>), [business-operations](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/business-operations.md>), [business-operations-it-operations-legal-microsoft-software-licensing-vendors-and-providers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/business-operations-it-operations-legal-microsoft-software-licensing-vendors-and-providers.md>), [competition](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/competition.md>), [eu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/eu.md>), [google](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google.md>), [it-operations](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/it-operations.md>), [lawsuit](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/lawsuit.md>), [legal](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/legal.md>), [microsoft](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/microsoft.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-licensing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-licensing.md>), [vendors-and-providers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vendors-and-providers.md>)

### AI overview

An English antitrust case involving Microsoft centers on an undisclosed internal presentation and allegations that subscription incentives and licensing restrictions reduced the availability of pre-owned perpetual software licenses. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has ordered Microsoft to provide documents and explain why the presentation was not disclosed earlier.

### Source excerpt

There's a new development in a Microsoft antitrust case, originally filed in England's High Court in April 2021, and it doesn't look good for the tech giant. A consent order from the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal is demanding documents from past and present Microsoft executives that may have a bearing on a GBP 270 million (about $361 million) lawsuit filed by secondhand software reseller ValueLicensing. The company alleges that Microsoft offered incentives to customers to shift to subscription services without selling their pre-owned licenses. Central to this development is a historic, potentially damning internal "Second-Hand Software" (SHS) presentation, referred to in the consent order as a "known adverse document." The specific content of the presentation has not yet been made public, but Microsoft has until October 31 to explain why it did not disclose the presentation earlier. Further, a confidentiality designation that previously applied to 11 documents relevant to the case has been lifted. These developments represent "an inflection point in European tech litigation," said Forrester senior analyst Dario Maisto. "For Amazon (AWS), Google, and Microsoft, the signal is clear: Antitrust tribunals are fully comfortable examining software licensing mechanics as tools of anticompetitive lock-in." The allegations against Microsoft Under EU law, it is fully legal to resell perpetual pre-owned ("second hand") software licenses; software makers cannot use their Terms of Service (ToS) to override this right. ValueLicensing specializes in this secondary market, re-selling licenses for products including Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. But the company alleges that Microsoft has stifled the supply of these pre-owned licenses in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA) comprising 27 European Union member and non-member countries. It says Microsoft abused its market dominance and entered into agreements that "prevented, restrained or distorted competition" via claus