Subj : Microsoft fined millions for selling software to Russian firms
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Mon Apr 10 2023 10:30:03

Microsoft fined millions for selling software to Russian firms

Date:
Mon, 10 Apr 2023 09:22:32 +0000

Description:
Over $12 million in banned sales, including over 1,200 in Russia, has landed 
Microsoft with a $3 million punishment.

FULL STORY
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Microsoft has agreed to pay in excess of $3 million to settle a potential 
civil liability for a believed 1,339 sanction violations that saw it sell 
products and services to individuals and companies in countries like Russia. 

The more than 1,300 cases took place between July 2012 and April 2019 and saw 
Microsoft allegedly selling software licenses, activated software licenses, 
and related services from its US and Ireland servers to Specially Designated 
Nationals and blocked users in Cuba, Iran, Syria, Russia, and the Crimea 
region of Ukraine. 

Following a Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) settlement of $624,013, 
Microsoft and its Ireland and Russia subsidiaries agreed to a settlement 
worth $2.98 million with The Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC ) of the 
US Department of the Treasury. BIS later issued a $276,382 credit, bringing 
Microsofts net settlement to almost $3.3 million for both bodies. Microsoft 
selling to banned Russian companies 

Over the course of nearly seven years, the tech giant reportedly sold $12.1 
million worth of services to banned customers. 

Accounting for almost 94% of all instances were the 1,252 Russian sales. A 
further 54 in Cuba, 30 in Iran, and 3 in Syria also occurred. Read more 

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Despite a maximum fine of more than $404.6 million, the OFAC decided that 
less than 1% of this would be sufficient given Microsofts voluntary 
self-disclosure of the apparent violations and the non-egregious nature of 
the case despite the reckless disregard for US sanctions. 

Its unclear whether Microsoft has reconsidered its business practices 
following Russias invasion of Ukraine, however Russian media alleged that 
Microsoft (and Intel) had resumed some business in the country earlier this 
year. 

 TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft for further comment on the seven-year 
case, and for more information regarding its current operations in Russia. 
Check out the best productivity tools around today



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-fined-millions-for-selling-software-t
o-russian-firms


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