Send Link mailing list submissions to
[email protected]
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[email protected]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[email protected]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Link digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price
hikes (Stephen Loosley)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2025 22:15:22 +1030
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription
price hikes
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes
By Reuters October 27, 2025 8:11 PM GMT+11Updated 2 hours ago
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/
Summary
* Microsoft 365 personal plan price increased by 45%
* Cheaper 'classic' plan only revealed during cancellation process
* Regulator seeks penalties, consumer redress and costs from Microsoft
Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator on Monday sued Microsoft
(MSFT.O), opens new tab, accusing it of misleading millions of customers into
paying higher prices for its Microsoft 365 software after bundling it with
artificial intelligence tool Copilot.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that from
October 2024, the technology giant misled about 2.7 million customers by
suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family
plans that included Copilot.
After the integration of Copilot, the annual subscription price of the
Microsoft 365 personal plan increased by 45% to A$159 ($103.32) and the price
of the family plan increased by 29% to A$179, the ACCC said.
The regulator said Microsoft failed to clearly tell users that a cheaper
?classic? plan without Copilot was still available.
The watchdog said the option to keep the cheaper plan was only revealed after
consumers began the cancellation process, a design it argued breached
Australian consumer law by failing to disclose material information and
creating a false impression of available choices.
Microsoft's previous communications through emails and a blog post failed to
mention the cheaper alternative, only informing customers that the price
increase would apply at the next auto-renewal, the ACCC said.
A Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed response that it was reviewing the
ACCC's claim in detail.
The ACCC is seeking penalties, consumer redress, injunctions and costs from
Microsoft Australia Pty Ltd and its U.S. parent, Microsoft Corp.
The ACCC said the maximum penalty that could be imposed on a company for each
breach of Australian consumer law was the greater of A$50 million, three times
the benefits obtained that were reasonably attributable, or 30% of the
corporation's adjusted turnover during the breach period if the value of the
benefits could not be determined.
"Any penalty that might apply to this conduct is a matter for the Court to
determine and would depend on the Court?s findings," the regulator said. "The
ACCC will not comment on what penalties the Court may impose."
Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and Jamie Freed
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
--
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
_______________________________________________
Link mailing list
[email protected]
https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
------------------------------
End of Link Digest, Vol 395, Issue 18
*************************************
