Microsoft has clapped back against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following last week's report that the regulator was investigating the tech giant, claiming the FTC leaked the news.
Initially reported by Bloomberg before being confirmed by multiple other publications, the FTC is probing Microsoft’s cloud and software licensing operations, cybersecurity services, and AI offerings.
The FTC’s investigation into Microsoft reportedly originated from complaints received last year during a broader examination of the cloud computing market. This formal inquiry follows a year of informal discussions with Microsoft’s competitors and partners and includes an information demand.
Now, Microsoft has requested that the Federal Trade Commission’s Inspector General look into whether agency management improperly leaked information about its antitrust investigation into the tech business. The tech giant is also urging the investigation's findings to be made public.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Rima Alaily, accused FTC management of leaking details about the agency’s antitrust investigation into the company on LinkedIn. She published an open letter on the networking website alleging that the regulatory body had violated its own ethics guidelines and had yet to distribute a copy of the mooted information demand document to Microsoft.
Alaily wrote:
Today, I asked, on behalf of Microsoft, the FTC Inspector General to investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked confidential information about a potential antitrust investigation last week in violation of the agency’s ethics rules and rules of practice. Ironically, almost a week after telling the press about an information demand supposedly issued to Microsoft, we still cannot obtain a copy of this document from the FTC."
According to these guidelines, new employees are instructed that “the existence of an FTC investigation is nonpublic information” unless the Office of Public Affairs determines that the target has already disclosed it via a press release or government filing.
However, the guidelines also state that the Commission can make “appropriate disclosures” if it deems such actions in the public interest.
Alaila added that Microsoft “learned of this information demand, like the rest of the world, through the Bloomberg story” and not through the FTC. Alaila also claimed that the FTC, when contacted, wouldn't confirm if the information letter even existed.
