Microsoft Sustainability Report Analysis

Report generated on 24-October-2017 by emRatings, a product of Solaron Sustainability Services ©2017. Page 1 of 55
SUSTAINABILITY
RATING AA
Company Industry Average
Company Industry Avg.
OVERALL SUSTAINABILITY SCORE: 79 /
100
Overall Performance
Industry Relative
Performance
Company Ranks 1 of 16
Company ESG Performance
Company Disclosure
Business Description
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company. The Company develops, licenses
and supports a range of software products, services and devices. Its segments are
Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal
Computing. Its products include operating systems; cross-device productivity
applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server
management tools; software development tools; video games, and training and
certification of computer system integrators and developers. It also designs,
manufactures, and sells devices, including personal computers, tablets, gaming and
entertainment consoles, phones, other intelligent devices, and related accessories,
that integrate with its cloud-based offerings. It offers an array of services, including
cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services, platforms, and
content, and it provides solution support and consulting services. It also delivers
online advertising.
Key Risk Analysis
SIGNIFICANT RISKS BASED ON STAKEHOLDER INPUTS &
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
Microsoft displays good financial performance with an increase of 7% in annual
revenue. The highest growth rate was registered by the Microsoft's Intelligent
Cloud segment while More Personal Computing revenues declined mainly due to
lower phone revenues. Accordingly, the company’s strategy focused on the sale of
its phone business and on significant investment in cloud services related
acquisitions. Moreover, a growing dividend has been paid for the last 15 years. In
September 2016, the company announced an 8% dividend increase and a new USD
40 billion share buyback program.
However, investors should pay attention to the sustainability risks that can impact
the company. Due to the nature of the business, Microsoft is exposed to the risk of
patent or copyright infringement. In fact, the company has been sued by various
companies since 2013 for infringing patents and copyright, having paid up to USD 5
million to settle a case like the Mirror vs. Microsoft. In the past years, Microsoft was
also accused of tax noncompliance. It was denounced for abusing tax laws and
practicing tax evasion by exploiting offshore tax loopholes to shift profit to Puerto
Rico, Singapore or Ireland. Currently, Microsoft is under the European Commission’s
investigation for the advance pricing agreements that will decide whether the
company has breached the rules on state aid. In China, after tax authorities ordered
Microsoft Corp to pay USD 137 million in back taxes and interest in 2014, the
Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce is still investigating the
company for antitrust allegations. An antitrust violation agreement with the EU cost
Microsoft USD 732 million in 2013. All these issues raise questions on the robustness
of the company’s business conduct policies.
Furthermore, despite the company’s commitment to observing the ethical
standards set forth by the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the
applicable anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws where it operates and a
Vendors Code of Conduct, Microsoft faced important bribery accusations through its
third party representatives or via its own subsidiaries in different countries. For
instance, a former CEO of Microsoft Romania was taken in custody in June 2016 for
tax evasion and money laundering, while in October 2016 government officials
were sentenced up to 6 years of prison for influence peddling and money
laundering. Bribes estimated at more than USD 50 million were paid in exchange
for approving increases in license fees for Microsoft products offered through a
Microsoft vendor – Fujitsu Siemens GmbH Austria to the Romanian Government.
Other bribery issues surfaced in China, Italy, Russia and Pakistan, thus violating the
FCPA, in contradiction with the company’s own commitment. Until April 2015,
following an investigation of the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) and the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Microsoft was put on the list of
MICROSOFT CORP
RIC: MSFT.OQ • ISIN: US5949181045 • SEDOL: 2588173 • INDUSTRY: SOFTWARE • COUNTRY: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Industry
Maximum
CompanyIndustry
Average
Industry
Minimum
0
25
50
75
100
Environment
Social
Governance
25
50
75
100
OverallEnvironmentSocialGovernance
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

Company
Industry Avg.
Number of Employees
Revenue (in USD mn)
Company Basic Information
Company Size
Company data is for the year
2015. The industry average
data is average of the latest
reported year data.
Other Information
Ticker:
MSFT.OQ
ISIN:
US5949181045
SEDOL:
2588173
GICS Industry:
Software
Country:
United States of America
Website:
http://www.microsoft.com
Investor Relations:
http://www.microsoft.com/investor/Annual...
unresolved FCPA-related investigations. To date, the status of the investigation is
uncertain. Besides the financial and reputational risks that may arise from SEC
investigations, an important concern is the company’s lack of acknowledgement of
the investigation and of disclosure of its status in the regular filings. This absence
indicates the company’s lack of transparency in its relationship with its shareholders
and the possibility of exposing them to important risks they are not aware of and
cannot quantify.
Microsoft was also one of the companies which were accused of privacy
violations. Recently, in France, Microsoft was ordered to stop excessive data
collection and monitoring of user navigation without the users’ approval through
Windows 10. In 2015 US Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice
were asked to investigate Microsoft’s Xbox for alleged secret recording of
conversations in people’s homes. Nokia was under criticism in 2014 after an
investigation revealed that Lumia line of Windows phones sent personal data to
servers in the US to spy on users. It was claimed that the practice has been known
to senior management. In the same year, Taiwan’s Executive banned the use of
Microsoft Corp’s MSN due to security concerns and the company was classified as a
security threat by the Chinese media while Windows 8 was banned on all
government computers under allegations that the Operating System allowed US
spying. All these issues pose a serious threat to individual liberties and call into
question the implementation of the company’s data privacy and security policies.
Sustainability Policy Assessment
ASSESSMENT OF COMPANY'S POLICIES & DISCLOSURES
The policies of Microsoft over ESG parameters have been satisfactory. The company
publishes the Citizenship Report separately. Overall, the company’s disclosure of
information has been satisfactory. Policies on Environment, Social, and Governance
parameters have been satisfactory, satisfactory, and good respectively.
The company has published an environmental
policy that covers features like control of the
environmental impact, initiatives for the
continuous improvement, and compliance with
environmental legislation in place. Regarding
global warming, Microsoft has taken initiatives
to reduce energy and water consumption
along with GHG emissions. An Environmental
Management System is implemented and is
ISO 14001 certified . The environmental
aspect is reflected in the products/services
offered by Microsoft and a procurement
system is also in place to ensure minimum
environmental impact. No monetary fines
were applied to the company during the year
and there were no cases of environmental
litigations/law suits.
ENVIRONMENT
Company Average
0
50000
100000
150000
Company Average
0
25000
50000
75000
100000
Industry
Maximum
CompanyIndustry
Average
Industry
Minimum
0
20
40
60
80
100

Microsoft has a labor policy in place which
includes health and safety of employees,
freedom of association, non-discrimination
among employees and also refrains from
promoting child labor or forced labor. No
information is disclosed regarding labor
unions, but the employees are covered by
collective bargaining agreements. Monitoring
health and safety of the employees is ensured
through detailed procedures but there is no
evidence of health & safety related
certification. The company conducts health
and safety training programs. On the Human
Rights aspect, Microsoft has a policy in place
with no details on sensitive countries or
indigenous rights. Good working relationship
with the community is ensured through
dialogue with community members and their
representatives. This is enforced by the
existence of a community policy. There is a
supplier policy statement that covers labor
issues but does not include human rights
standards for contractors. Regular dialogue
with suppliers is carried out and training and
development programs to ensure compliance
of labor policies for suppliers are put in place.
SOCIAL
Regarding Board effectiveness, there are 11
directors of whom 9 are independent.
Microsoft has distinct roles for the Board
Chairman and CEO. It is transparent in its
disclosure of remuneration of the board and
the top management. The variable
remuneration of top executives is linked to
sustainability performance. The company has
established a policy on bribery and corruption
as well as on competition but does not have a
policy on money laundering. There is a
provision of reporting violation of the code of
conduct using several channels which are
open 24/7. Microsoft is transparent regarding
key decisions in which the shareholders are
entitled to vote and gives details of
engagement mechanisms. The company is
involved in political contributions and it gives
no details of non-compliance with business
policies during the year.
GOVERNANCE

STRENGTHS
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Industry
Maximum
CompanyIndustry
Average
Industry
Minimum
0
20
40
60
80
100
Industry
Maximum
CompanyIndustry
Average
Industry
Minimum
0
20
40
60
80
100

Tackling Climate Change
• From the environmental point of view, the company states that it met its
100% renewable energy commitment, the carbon neutrality and the net-zero
emissions goal for datacenters, software development labs, offices, and
employee air travel by increasing energy efficiency and investing in
renewables. However, with the incorporation of Nokia Devices and Services
in April 2014, the total energy consumption went up by 23%. The GHG
emissions Scope 2 to revenue increased to 17.5 in FY 2014 from 16.4 in FY
2013, while energy to revenue ratio reached 41.1, up from 39.1 in FY 2013.
In this new context, Microsoft has to further improve its measures to mitigate
the company’s footprint. Furthermore, the company is encouraged to publicly
disclose its energy efficiency targets.
Environmental-Friendly
Products
• Microsoft provides environmental-friendly solutions through digital technology
thus minimizing the use of resources and environmental impact for energy,
water, buildings, infrastructure, and transportation industries. Services such as
Microsoft Azure enables the access of businesses to Microsoft carbon neutral
datacenters for on-demand computer and storage, while Microsoft cloud offers
efficiency with less waste. Moreover, in 2015 Microsoft certified its tablet with
ENERGY STAR and EPEAT and the mobile phones with ULE 110, thus
establishing sustainability criteria such as responsible packaging, energy
efficiency, end of life management, etc.
Improvements in the Supply
Chain Management
• Microsoft’s tier 1 suppliers are required to comply with the Supplier Code of
Conduct and Social and Environmental Accountability’s (SEA) labor rights,
ethics, environment, occupational health, and safety provisions. Audits and
due diligence processes are applied across the supply chain by third-party
auditors and/or members of Microsoft’s SEA team. Regular dialogue, training
and surveys of the suppliers are also conducted. There is a conflict minerals
commitment and in spring 2015 all tantalum smelters identified in the
Microsoft supply chain were validated as conflict-free. Nevertheless, in
January 2016, Amnesty International together with the African Resources
Watch accused 16 multinationals, including Microsoft Corp for failing to
properly check the supply chain. Allegedly, minerals used in the lithium-ion
batteries of their devices were mined by children working for up to 12 hours
a day in the Congo cobalt mines, in dangerous conditions. This last event
should pressure the company into enforcing material tracing process until the
smelter level, otherwise reputational risk may arise.
Proper Training and Health
and Safety Measures
• Training and development opportunities are provided to all employees and
measures are taken to create a safe and healthy work environment. Employee
survey is also undertaken and managers use the poll results to identify ways
to enhance the employee experience and develop actions plans. However,
the poll results have shown slightly lower values or remained constant
compared to 2014.
Transparency Regarding Law
Enforcement Data Requests
• The company also enhanced its transparency practices by releasing a semi-
annual report of law enforcement requests for Microsoft account user data.
This report details the number of data requests received from official legal
entities and the number of accounts that may be affected by the demands. In
terms of human rights, the company has established the Microsoft Technology
and Human Rights Center that works internally for promoting the integration
of human rights into the company’s culture, business operations and
strategies. The company is also a member of the Global Network Initiative to
foster freedom of expression around the world.
Providing Access to
Technology and Computing
Learning
• In terms of community activities, the company reported a total annual giving
that surpassed USD 1 billion for the second consecutive year. The Microsoft
YouthSpark—a global initiative connecting hundreds of millions of young
people with opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship -
achieved its goal of reaching 300 million youths in the timespan of 2012-2015.
Through its Technology for Good program, the company also provided more
than 120,000 not-for-profit organizations with affordable access to technology
in more than 110 countries. There are specific commitments set for 2016 to
empower communities, such as access to learning computing. Furthermore,
the Microsoft Accessibility Standard is a company-wide policy that seeks to
ensure access to technology for over 1 billion people with disability, such as
vision, hearing or learning impairment.


WEAKNESSES
Measures to protect the rights
of vulnerable people
• In 2015, Microsoft joined the UK Prime Minister’s WePROTECT Children
Online initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Moreover, the
company uses PhotoDNA—a free technology that helps identifying and
removing child sexual abuse images— to combat the spread of child sexual
abuse images through its Bing, OneDrive, and Outlook.com services.
Microsofts Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) fights malware while protecting
vulnerable populations, notably the very young and the elderly. The DCU’s
work includes investigating fraud and tech scams.
Diversified stakeholder
Engagement
• Stakeholder engagement includes various groups such as governments,
shareholders, communities, partners, suppliers, employees and customers.
The company also follows international frameworks like the GRI, the United
Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the UN
Global Compact. The company also engages in customer relationship
strategies through online feedback forms, support communities, product
satisfaction surveys, research forums and online customer service.
Suitable Board Structure and
Disclosure
• Regarding Board effectiveness, there are 11 directors out of whom 9 are
independent. Microsoft has distinct roles for its board chairman and the CEO.
There is a lead independent director. Further, self-evaluations are conducted
at annual board, committee and individual levels. The company is transparent
in its disclosure of remuneration of the board and top management and it has
established relevant business ethics policies. Reporting violations of the code
of conduct can be done using several channels which are open 24/7. However,
despite the company’s social policies regarding diversity and inclusion, there is
room for improvement at leadership level as males dominated in 2015 with
82.6% and the Caucasian ethnicity with 70.1%.
Tax Evasion and Money
Laundering in Romania
• The licensing corruption scandal in Romania involves large bribes paid to
Romanian government members in the period 2003-2014, in exchange for
approving increases in license fees for Microsoft products. The bribes were
estimated at more than USD 50 million. Nine government ministers have
been charged by the National Anticorruption Directorate. Calin Tatomir,
former CEO of Microsoft Romania was take into custody in June 2016 for tax
evasion and money laundering. In October 2016, some of the government
officials were sentenced up to 6 years of imprisonment for influence peddling
and money laundering and to asset forfeiture of up to EUR 9 million. All these
raise serious concerns on the robustness of the company’s social and business
conduct policies.
Other Bribery Acts in China,
Italy, Russia and Pakistan
• In May 2013, Microsoft was investigated by the United States Department of
Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for potential
violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Romania, China (a
former Microsoft China employee disclosed that he was allegedly directed by
his executive to pay bribes to government officials to secure business deals),
Italy (Microsoft’s Italian business allegedly used consultants for giving gifts to
Italian procurement officials), Russia (resellers of Microsoft software allegedly
funneled kickbacks to executives of a state-owned company to win a deal) and
Pakistan (Microsoft allegedly authorized a consulting firm to pay for a trip to
Egypt for a government official and his wife in order to win a tender). In April
2015, Microsoft continued to be named on the FCPA Blog under the list of on-
going and unresolved FCPA-related investigation. As other major corporations,
Microsoft has significant incentives not to allow such cases to go to trial, and
most FCPA cases are settled out of court, with fines that can run up to tens of
millions of dollars. This might have been the case, as Microsoft was removed
from FCPA investigation list in July 2015. The consistent and complete absence
of disclosures from Microsoft regarding this SEC investigation and others,
proves that the company is not transparent with its shareholders and that it
can expose them to important risks they are not aware of and are unable to
quantify.

Unethical Approach Against
Open Source Policies
• According to David Cameron’s former strategy chief, Microsoft threatened UK
government to pull its R&D facilities out of the country due to open source
plans – that finally entered into force in 2014, thus triggering accusations of
attempting to blackmail the MPs. In India, a similar approach was adopted,
lobbying against open source policy. All these point out a recurring lobbying,
blackmailing and bribing behavior aimed at maintaining its monopoly.
However, in recent times Microsoft has been trying to foster a softer image
by running open source on Windows 10. Nevertheless, the concept of
universal app platform sparked criticism, including from the CEO of Epic
Games, who publicly explained that Microsoft is offering exactly the opposite.
Data Privacy Breaches through
Windows 10
• In July 2016, France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés
(CNIL) ordered Microsoft Corp to stop excessive data collection and
monitoring of user navigation without user consent. The regulator said that
Windows 10 enabled the company to collect intrusive data on more than 10
million French users. In November 2015, even Microsoft Corporate Vice
President Joe Belfiore explained that Windows 10 is designed to track the user
by default. A security expert revealed that Windows 10 sends data back to
Microsoft servers thousands of times per day, even with disabled tracking
options. Moreover, many users complained that they were “tricked” with a
confusing Windows 10 upgrade dialogue that scheduled an upgrade without
their explicit agreement. Following the aggressive marketing campaign for
Windows 10, thousands of people are calling Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF) to investigate the company’s alleged “malicious” business practices.
Overall, Microsoft risks losing the trust of its customers while questions are
raised on Microsoft’s fairness with respect to data privacy and responsible
marketing.
Products and Services that
Allegedly Breached Privacy
and Security of Customers
• In July 2015, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) asked the US
Federal Trade Commission and the US DoJ to investigate Microsoft and others
that produced “always on” consumer devices that secretly record
conversations in people’s homes. Microsoft was accused of recording private
conversations with its Xbox video game consoles even when the system was
off. In January 2015, a developer said that the Microsoft’s new released
Outlook application for iOS broke corporate security in multiple ways. In
March 2014, it was reported that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a
non-profit digital rights group based in California, US, criticized Microsoft
Corp. for accessing the email account of users as part of an investigation into
leaked data related to its Windows 8 operating system. The actions allegedly
breached the US Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Nokia Oyj was also
under criticism in 2014 after an investigation revealed that its Lumia line of
Windows phones sent personal data, including information from phones used
by senior members of Finland's government, to Microsoft Corp servers in the
US. The report claimed that Nokia’s senior management had long been aware
of the large amount of data being sent to Microsoft servers that cooperated
with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on users. The same year,
Taiwan’s Executive Yuan announced that it banned the use of Microsoft Corp’s
MSN - instant messaging services on the government computers, due to
security concerns. The company was also classified as a security threat by the
Chinese media as reports claimed that Microsoft helped the US government to
spy on China.

QUESTIONS FOR SHAREHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Our analysis on the performance of and their management of ESG issues brings to
light several factors on which stakeholders should seek explanation from the
company management.
Despite the consistent Business Conduct Code, Microsoft has been involved in
cases of patent infringements, accused of abusing tax laws and practicing tax
evasion, breaching anti-trust agreement and displaying anti-competitive
behavior. What measures has the company taken to ensure such issues will not
repeat? How does the company make sure to bring in relevant policies or
strengthen the existing policies necessary to yield effective results?
Microsoft became the subject of FCPA scrutiny because it was accused of bribery
in several countries. For instance, in Romania, the bribery scandal resulted in
placement into custody of a former Microsoft CEO for tax evasion and money
laundering. Also, government officials received up to 6 years imprisonment for
influence peddling and money laundering. What measures has the company
taken to enforce an ethical and complaint business conduct?
Microsoft was among the companies accused of privacy violation, allegedly
surveying not only the US citizens but also government’s officials, notably from
China and Taiwan, thus getting a governmental ban on some of its products in
these countries. What mechanisms has the company implemented in order to
ensure that data security is safeguarded and effective without any compromises?
Abuse of Tax Laws
• In December 2015 court documents in a tax case between Microsoft and the
IRS revealed that the company was using offshore tax loopholes to shift profit
to Puerto Rico, Singapore or Ireland in order to avoid US and UK corporate
taxes. For instance, GBP 100 million (USD 146.8 million) a year went off their
corporation tax bill in Britain using Ireland’s taxation loopholes. Further, the
European Commission is investigating the advance pricing agreements (APA)
in order to decide whether the company breached the rules on state aid. In
May 2016, the Australian government accused Microsoft Corp and others of
profit diversion from Australia to no-tax or low-tax jurisdictions. In December
2014, Microsoft Corp was reported among 340 companies that brokered
secret deals with Luxembourg to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.
Moreover, Chinese tax authorities ordered Microsoft Corp to pay CNY 840
million (USD 137 million) in back taxes and interest, as well as more than CNY
100 million (USD 16.3 million) to cover its next year of taxes, due to alleged
tax evasion. In 2013, French and Danish authorities accused the company of
abusing tax laws and practicing tax evasion. All these prove a recurrent
unethical behavior enforced by the latest scheme of buying LinkedIn through
loan in order to avoid USD 9 billion in taxes.
Failures to comply with
Competition and Anti-Trust
Laws and Regulations
• During 2016, the Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce
(SAIC) has entered in the third year of investigations of Microsoft Corp's
offices in China over antitrust issues. The investigation relates to
compatibility, bundle sales, and file verification issues related to Windows and
Office software. Other lawsuits against Microsoft were filed in 2014 and 2015
due to allegations of anti-competitive practices, including a fine ordered by
the Competition Commission for the unfair trade practices of Microsoft
Bulgaria. Even shareholders sued the company’s directors for failing to
manage the company properly and for violating an antitrust agreement with
the EU that cost Microsoft USD 732 million.

7.8
6.0
9.5
5.3
Performance on Key
Parameters
* Click on the bars to view score details
Products and Services
Environmental Management
7.0
3.8
9.3
6.5
8.6
5.6
9.7
5.1
10.0
6.1
Performance on Key
Parameters
Human Capital
Training and development
Community
Supplier
Customer
10.0
3.9
7.9
6.6
10.0
8.3
10.0
7.6
9.3
7.2
9.4
7.0
Performance on Key
Parameters
Board Composition
Top Management
Board Committees
Remuneration of the board
Shareholder Rights & Reporting
Business Conduct & Policies
Policy Overview
Description Disclosure Level
Environmental policy GOOD
Labor Policies MODERATE
Policy on Human Rights SATISFACTORY
Supplier Policy SATISFACTORY
Policy on bribery & corruption SATISFACTORY
Policy on Insider trading GOOD
Policy on Competition GOOD
Policy on Conflicts of Interest GOOD
Policy on Money laundering
Policy on Responsible Marketing POOR / NOT AVAILABLE
WhistleBlower Mechanism GOOD
Environment Social Governance

Analysis of Controversial News on the Company
MICROSOFT CORP Software
Company & Sector Trends
MICROSOFT CORP ORACLE CORP
SAP SE ALPHABET INC
SABRE CORP Software
Company & Peer Trends
Analysis of Company's Involvement in controversial news in last one year
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Microsoft recalls more than 2 million power cords for Surface tablets over fire
hazard
Feb 03, 2016 | United States of America | Tech Times
On February 2, 2016, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that
Microsoft Corp issued a voluntary recall for nearly 2.25 million AC power cords
distributed with Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3 tablets before March
15, 2015. Almost 190,000 power cords were sold in Canada. The recalled power
cords lacked the sleeve on the end connecting the power supply. Microsoft said it
received five reports of electric shock and 56 reports of power cords overheating
and catching fire.
Update: Microsoft settles lawsuit over violations of EU regulators agreement
Nov 25, 2015 | Seattle, Washington, United States of America | Seattle Times
On November 24, 2015, a Washington federal court in the US gave preliminary
approval to a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Microsoft shareholders against the
company for violating an antitrust agreement with the EU. Under the settlement,
Microsoft agreed to spend up to USD 42.5 million over a five-year period to set up
an Antitrust Compliance Office to oversee compliance with any EU or US antitrust
matters and to pay plaintiffs' attorneys USD 7.3 million.
 On September 22, 2015, Microsoft Corp agreed to the parameters of a settlement
in a lawsuit filed by investors in the US District Court for the Western District of
Washington over a USD 732 million fine for violating antitrust agreement with the
European Union (EU) that required Microsoft to offer consumers a choice of 11 rival
Web browsers on its Windows operating system. The parties filed a joint stipulation
that they were agreed to delay the hearing on the company’s motion for summary
judgment.
 On April 11, 2014, in the US District Court, Western District of Washington, a
Microsoft Corp shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company’s board of directors
over the way it handled an error with its Internet Explorer browser that ended up
costing the company a USD 731 million (EUR 561 million) fine by European Union.
The lawsuit accused directors and executives, including the founder and a former
executive, of failing to manage the company properly, and the board of directors of
not fully investigating how that miscue occurred.
Court rejects Microsoft’s plea to dismiss wearable fitness technology patent suit
Feb 01, 2017 | Virginia, United States of America | Law360
On January 31, 2017, the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia ruled
against Microsoft Corp’s claim to dismiss a patent infringement suit over wearable
fitness technology brought by Smart Wearable Technologies. The company filed its
claim alleging that the patent was not valid as a printing error was made when the
case was filed and that the court could not correct it, thus leaving the patent claim
invalid. According to the court however, it was allowed to correct obvious
typographical errors in patent claims.
 On July 13, 2016, Smart Wearable Technologies Inc filed a lawsuit in the US
District Court for the Western District of Virginia against Microsoft Corp over patent
infringement. The defendant infringed the patent issued for “6-DOF Subject
Monitoring Device and Method” by manufacturing, making, using, practicing,
importing, distributing, selling and offering for sale the Band 1 and Band 2 products.
The plaintiff demanded a trial by jury.
Vivaldi CEO accuses Microsoft of anti-competitive practice over Edge browser
Jan 25, 2017 | United States of America | Trusted Reviews
On January 25, 2017, it was reported that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Vivaldi accused Microsoft Corp of anti-competitive practices regarding its Edge
browser. He criticized Microsoft on his company’s blog for automatically changing
US users’ default browser to its own Edge every time Windows 10 would update
and for making it too difficult to change the default option to any other browser.
Company's Involvement In Controversial News

Microsoft lays off 700 employees in order to update skills in various divisions
Jan 23, 2017 | | India Today
On January 23, 2017, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was planning to cut 700
office jobs over the following days. The move was going to be part of Microsoft's
previously announced plan to cut 2,850 jobs by June 2017. The planned layoffs
were not part of restructuring efforts with the aim of reducing costs, but were
intended to update skills in various divisions.
Former workers sue Microsoft over PTSD suffered from reviewing graphic content
Jan 12, 2017 | | Associated Press
On December 30, 2016, two former Microsoft Corp sued the company for not
protecting them from the psychological damage of viewing extreme content,
resulting in severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to the lawsuit,
the two former employees worked to review and remove disturbing images, videos
and accounts that depicted graphic violence and abuse. One of the workers claimed
that he greatly suffered from his work, leading to a serious mental breakdown in
2013, while the other employee claimed that his work caused him anxiety
problems, panic attacks, depression, disassociation, visual hallucinations and the
inability to be around children, including his own son.
Former football player sues Microsoft and others over trademark infringement
Jan 11, 2017 | Pennsylvania, United States of America | Law360
On January 11, 2017, a former professional football player and professional wrestler
filed a trademark lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania against Microsoft Studios Inc, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp, and Epic
Games Inc, accusing them of unlawfully using its voice and likeness for a popular
avatar in the “Gears of War” video game franchise, although the defendants
promoted it as using those of another former professional wrestler. The lawsuit
alleged violations of the federal Lanham Act, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy
and misappropriation of identity. The plaintiff sought a percentage of profits of sales
from the "Gears of War" games, a royalty, and compensatory and punitive
damages.
Microsoft admits using aggressive tactics for Windows 10 upgrade
Dec 27, 2016 | | Forbes.com
On December 27, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp admitted that it used
aggressive tactics to pressure people into running Windows 10 through unfair
strategies. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela confessed during
Windows Weekly podcast that Microsoft went too far when it changed the cancel
operation of the red X in the Windows 10 upgrade dialog box.
Update: FACTA violation lawsuit against Microsoft on hold pending settlement
negotiations
Dec 05, 2016 | Florida, United States of America | Law360
On December 5, 2016, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida
approved a motion filed by both the plaintiff and the defendant, Microsoft, asking
the court to put the FACTA violation lawsuit against the company on hold. The
decision allowed the parties to focus on reaching a settlement agreement.
 On July 26, 2016, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied
Microsoft Corp’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit over violation of the Fair and Accurate
Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). The plaintiff alleged that the company’s physical
store receipts displayed too many digits of a customer's credit card number. The
court said that the plaintiff sufficiently established that his alleged injury was
concrete under the US Supreme Court’s decision.


Supreme Court sends cyber abuse concerns notice to Yahoo! and others
Dec 05, 2016 | India | Times News Network
On December 5, 2016, the Supreme Court of India sent notices to Microsoft
Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd, owned by Microsoft Corp, Yahoo! Inc, Google, owned
by Alphabet Inc, and Facebook Inc over concerns of cyber abuse. The NGO Prajwala
asked the court to pass the order seeking for the companies to take off an offensive
video straightaway after they are informed of it. According to the counsel of
Prajwala, they should report offensive videos as soon as they become aware of
them and take it off their site immediately, while also preventing them from being
circulated. The court was seeking a response by January 9 to why the companies
were hosting illegal activities.
DNA probes former Microsoft heads and others in USD 67 million fraud
Nov 22, 2016 | Romania | IntelliNews
On November 21, 2016, the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA)
announced that it was probing two former heads of Microsoft Corp’s Romanian
branch, a former representative of Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH (known as
Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH), owned by Fujitsu Ltd, and two government
officials. The agency was investigating three deals that caused the Romanian state
to lose USD 67 million through the fraudulent sale of Microsoft licenses to the state
between 2004 and 2008. Former Microsoft heads Silviu Hotaran and Ovidiu
Artopolescu and former Fujitsu Siemens Computers representative Claudiu Florica
were placed under judicial surveillance for two months, according to the DNA.
 On February 11, 2015, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Romania, decided
to place under preventive arrest for a period of 30 days the deputy Elena Udrea in
the Microsoft Corp case. Elena Udrea, former Minister of Regional Development and
Tourism, was accused of influence peddling and money laundering.
 On October 2, 2014, it was reported that Romania’s National Anti-corruption
Department was investigating a bribery scandal involving nine former ministers,
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (that became Fujitsu Technology Solutions), a subsidiary
of Fujitsu Ltd, and Microsoft Corp, in a scandal involving EUR 60 million that had
been allegedly hidden in off-shore accounts linked to politicians. It was said that the
bribe and money laundering system, which began around 2003, allowed the state to
circumvent public auctions for IT services and allowed Fujitsu to sell Microsoft
licenses for operating systems at elevated prices to the state. The investigation was
concerning a 47% discount granted by Microsoft to the government that allowed
former ministers to be paid commissions.
 On July 15, 2014, a former general manager of Microsoft Romania, subsidiary of
Microsoft Corporation in Romania, was interrogated by the National Anticorruption
Directorate in the case involving the lease of IT licenses for schools between 2001
and 2013, for which about EUR 9 million (USD 12.25 million) were paid. The
investigation focused on influence peddling, abuse of office and bribes.
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft asked to block sex determination advertisements
Nov 16, 2016 | New Delhi, India | Daily Mail Online
On November 16, 2016, it was reported that the Indian Supreme Court asked
Alphabet Inc’s Google Inc, Yahoo! Inc and Microsoft Corp to clear all prenatal sex
determination advertisements within 36 hours of them appearing in search results.
Prenatal sex determination was considered an offense in India and the authorities
were angry because they repeatedly asked the internet giants to delete the
advertisements without any favorable result. The Union of India was asked to
appoint an agency to monitor the websites which would inform the search engines
about that kind of advertisements. The officials of the search engines said they took
steps to comply with the court’s requirements.


Microsoft accused of taking unfair advantages over its security software
Nov 14, 2016 | Moscow, Russia | SC Magazine UK
On November 14, 2016, it was reported that the Russian authorities launched a
probe against Microsoft Corp over antitrust violations. Microsoft was accused of
pushing out the independent security companies to make room for its own security
products. An oﬃcial of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service said that the tactic
led to unfair advantages for the company. Microsoft stated that it would review
carefully the accusations.
FAS investigates Microsoft over abuse of position
Nov 10, 2016 | Russia | Law360
On November 10, 2016, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia launched
an investigation against Microsoft Corp over possible abuse of its dominant market
position with concerns to its Windows 10 operating system. According to FAS,
Microsoft gave an edge to its own antivirus software by allowing developers only
six days to adapt their antivirus programs to be compatible. The company
previously gave developers two months to adapt to the operating system before
Microsoft’s own Windows Defender would activate.


Update: IRS asks court not to allow additional briefs supporting Microsoft in transfer
pricing case
Nov 07, 2016 | United States of America | Law360
On November 7, 2016, the IRS asked the US District Court for the Western District
of Washington not to allow entities such as the US Chamber of Commerce to file
briefs in support of Microsoft’s attempt of withholding 174 documents regarding the
company's transfer pricing practices. The IRS told the court that the three briefs in
question presented an incomplete and inaccurate analysis of the privileges at issue
and that the filings extended the page limit allotted to the company by 36 pages.
 On December 12, 2015, it was reported that court documents in a tax case
between Microsoft and the IRS revealed that the company was using offshore tax
loopholes to shift profit to Puerto Rico, Singapore or Ireland in order to avoid US
and UK corporate taxes.
 On November 23, 2015, a Washington federal court ordered Microsoft to comply
with a set of summonses issued by the IRS in 2014 in an investigation of the
company’s cost-sharing agreements with affiliates in Puerto Rico and Singapore.
 On December 19, 2014, the IRS filed petitions in a Washington federal court to
compel the former Microsoft CEO and other current and former executives to
testify as part of an IRS audit of financial transactions between Microsoft and its
subsidiaries in Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The IRS said the executives did not
comply with summonses seeking their testimony in the audit.
 On December 11, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed a petition in the
US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle to compel
Microsoft Corp to produce documents related to the pricing of intangibles under two
cost-sharing arrangements with its subsidiaries in Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The IRS
said Microsoft only partially complied with information requests related to an IRS
audit of tax years 2004 through 2006. The company's transfer pricing methods used
in the cost-sharing arrangements were in dispute and if rejected, could lead to a
multi-billion-dollar income adjustment to Microsoft's taxable income for the period,
according to the IRS filing.
 On November 23, 2015, a Washington federal court ordered Microsoft to comply
with a set of summonses issued by the IRS in 2014 in an investigation of the
company’s cost-sharing agreements with affiliates in Puerto Rico and Singapore.
 On December 19, 2014, the IRS filed petitions in a Washington federal court to
compel the former Microsoft CEO and other current and former executives to
testify as part of an IRS audit of financial transactions between Microsoft and its
subsidiaries in Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The IRS said the executives did not
comply with summonses seeking their testimony in the audit.
US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle to compel the
former Microsoft Corp CEO and other current and former executives to testify as
part of an IRS audit of financial transactions between Microsoft and its subsidiaries in
Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The IRS said the executives did not comply with
summonses seeking their testimony in the audit.


Microsoft says hackers leveraged Windows bug in phishing campaign
Nov 02, 2016 | | The Washington Times
On November 1, 2016, Microsoft Corp revealed that the hackers blamed for an
earlier cyber-attack campaign had leveraged a flaw affecting several versions of its
Windows operating system and a previously unpatched Adobe Flash bug in their
practice. According to the company, a hacker group known as “STRONTIUM”
incorporated the two bugs into a low-volume spear-phishing campaign that affected
the Windows users. The hack involved tricking targets into letting the attackers to
leverage the Flash vulnerability, in order to gain control of a victim’s web browser,
from where the attackers could have potentially exploited the Windows bug and
installed a backdoor that could have been used at a later date to access an infected
computer running a vulnerable version of Windows. Microsoft said that the
Windows 10 Anniversary Update was not susceptible to the bug, but the other
versions going back to Windows Vista were.
Update: Microsoft’s Skype fined by Belgian court for not releasing call records
Oct 31, 2016 | Belgium | TechDirt.com
On October 27, 2016, it was reported that a Belgian court fined Microsoft Corp’s
subsidiary Skype EUR 30,000 (USD 32,700) for failing to comply with its order
issued in September 2012. The court had asked that Skype provide details about
conversations between suspects in a criminal case. Skype argued that the court
lacked jurisdiction over the company, and that its request was both technically
impossible and against European regulations.
 On May 26, 2015, a spokesman for a court in Mechelen, Belgium, said that Skype
Technologies SA, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp, was summoned to appear in court
after it refused to allow authorities to wiretap communications between two
criminal suspects as part of a criminal investigation. The court spokesman also said
that the company could be punished under Belgian law if they would refuse to aid a
criminal investigation when requested to do so could and could face fines up to EUR
24,000 (USD 26,500).
Microsoft employee imprisoned over child pornography
Oct 31, 2016 | Seattle, United States of America | Softpedia
On October 31, 2016, it was reported that a former security engineer at Microsoft
Corp was arrested in the King County, Seattle, US, after being accused of child
pornography. He was jailed for uploading to the Internet explicit pictures of minors
involved in sexual acts. Microsoft stated that it would let the authorities to conduct
the investigation.
Former Microsoft and Amazon directors face sentencing on prostitution charges
Oct 28, 2016 | King County, Washington, United States of America | The Business
Journals
On October 28, 2016, the former Microsoft Corp director of Worldwide Health and a
former Amazon.com Inc software development director faced sentencing on
prostitution charges in King County Superior Court, Washington, US. The former
Microsoft Corp director faced sentencing on felony charges related to his
participation in a 16-member prostitution ring busted earlier in 2016 in Bellevue,
Washington. He pleaded guilty to one second-degree count of promoting
prostitution and a felony. The former Amazon software development director
pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted promotion of prostitution in the second
degree, which was a gross misdemeanor.
Microsoft criticized for calling Windows "open source"
Oct 18, 2016 | Orlando, Florida, United States of America | ZDNet
On October 18, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was criticized for calling
its Windows "open source." Microsoft’s CEO said at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo
2016 in Orlando, US, that "Windows is the most open platform there is." The CEO of
Epic Games said that Microsoft was not offering an open platform, but exactly the
opposite, and was not bringing users and developers together as it claimed.


Update: Court denies Microsoft’s motion to toss gender discrimination lawsuit
Oct 18, 2016 | Seattle, Washington, United States of America | The Register
On October 14, 2016, a US district court in Seattle, Washington, found plausible
cause and allowed the gender discrimination lawsuit against Microsoft Corp to
proceed, denying the company’s motion to dismiss the case.
 On September 7, 2016, a US federal court in Seattle criticized Microsoft Corp’s
lawyers in the gender bias lawsuit of being “overly aggressive” and not fully
complying with the court’s order to present relevant documents to the case.
 On October 27, 2015, two current Microsoft Corp female employees filed an
amended complaint in the Western Washington District Court in Seattle, US, joining
a putative gender discrimination class action lawsuit. The two joined the suit, which
was filed in September 2015 by a former Microsoft female employee, seeking back
pay as well as monetary and punitive damages.
 On September 16, 2015, it was reported that a former Microsoft Corp employee
was suing the company for gender discrimination in federal court in Seattle,
Washington, US. Allegedly, female technical employees were paid less and
promoted less frequently than male employees. Also the performance of women
was ranked below that of men. The suit was seeking class action status. Separately,
she made internal complaints about a superior who sexually harassed female
employees. She claimed he retaliated against her by giving her a low bonus and by
decreasing her responsibilities.
Salesforce.com asks EU antitrust officials to probe Microsoft-LinkedIn deal
Sep 29, 2016 | United States of America | Bloomberg
On November 3, 2016, it was reported that the European Union antitrust regulators
were to give a response regarding the validity of LinkedIn Corp' s acquisition by the
Microsoft Corp. The chief executive officer of Salesforce.com, the company that also
tried to buy LinkedIn, expressed his worries regarding this acquisition, saying that
Microsoft would try to block the competition using LinkedIn’s resources. An EU
official said in September that it would make an in-depth research of the proposed
acquisition.
 On September 29, 2016, Salesforce.com Inc said it was planning to ask the
European Union antitrust officials to analyze Microsoft Corp’s USD 26.2 billion
takeover of LinkedIn Corp, as the deal might allegedly impede innovation and
competition. Salesforce.com expressed its worries regarding Microsoft ownership of
LinkedIn database of over 450 million professionals, arguing that Microsoft might
gain a vast advantage over rivals and also refuse competitors’ access to the data. A
Microsoft executive’s presentation, held on September 13, 2016, was cited in this
regard. In June 2016, an EU Competition Commissioner said that the deal would be
reviewed, in order to determine whether control over all that data might strangle
Microsoft’s competition.
Union announces layoffs at Microsoft’s supplier Lionbridge
Sep 28, 2016 | Bellevue, Washington, United States of America | GeekWire.com
On September 28, 2016, it was reported that the Temporary Workers of America
union complained about Microsoft Corp’s supplier Lionbridge Technologies Inc plan
to dismiss 16 union workers and five non-union employees in Bellevue, Washington,
US. A union representative said that the layoffs would affect only people who were
working in testing Microsoft’s Windows software. Previously, Temporary Workers of
America petitioned the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in an attempt to
get Microsoft involved in collective labor agreement negotiations, arguing that
Microsoft was responsible for working conditions, even though the workers were
employed by Lionbridge. The union was reported to contemplate the possibility of
filing new claims with the NLRB, and stated that there still was a significant gap
between the benefits that normal employees received, and those received by
contractors.


Microsoft pays USD 650 to a man over aggressive Windows 10 upgrade campaign
Sep 27, 2016 | United States of America | The Register
On September 27, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp paid USD 650 to a man
who threatened to sue the company, because its aggressive marketing of a software
update caused distress to his grandfather. The old man, suffering from Alzheimer’s
disease, tried to reject an update notification on his computer, but, by clicking the X
button, he unwillingly triggered the automatic update to Windows 10 software. The
man, who later spent ten hours in removing the new software, which the old man
was not used to, argued that Microsoft “interrupted the basic functions of their own
software” and notified the company of his intentions to sue in a small claims court.
Microsoft tries to resuscitate software patent litigations
Sep 20, 2016 | United States of America | Techrights
On September 20, 2016, an online blogger criticized Microsoft Corp’s policy of
seeking a KRW 600 billion (USD 533.1 million) worth of tax refund from the Korean
government, in relation with patent license fees and royalties paid to it by Korean
software companies. In its claim, Microsoft had allegedly argued that the taxes in
question applied to patents covering jurisdictions outside South Korea, and thus the
money needed to be reimbursed. The writer also accused Microsoft of being
involved in arguable business practices, including tax evasion, financial fraud and
constantly suing other companies for patent infringement.
Microsoft announces layoffs in London over Skype office shut down
Sep 17, 2016 | London, United Kingdom | ZDNet.com
On September 17, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corporation was going to
lay off about 220 employees due to the company’s decision to close its Skype Inc
office in London. Microsoft had announced in July that it was planning to lay off
2,850 employees in 2017. A Microsoft spokesperson said that the London cuts were
a result of the consolidation of some engineering positions that affected both Skype
Inc and Yammer Inc, as part of the restructuring of Microsoft's sales organization.
Update: Microsoft’s legal team accused of not complying with court orders in
gender bias lawsuit
Sep 16, 2016 | Seattle, Washington, United States of America | The Seattle Times
On September 7, 2016, a US federal court in Seattle, Washington, US, criticized
Microsoft Corp’s lawyers in the gender bias lawsuit of being “overly aggressive” and
not fully complying with the court’s order to present relevant documents to the
case.
 On October 27, 2015, two current Microsoft Corp female employees filed an
amended complaint in the Western Washington District Court in Seattle, US, joining
a putative gender discrimination class action lawsuit. The two joined the suit, which
was filed in September 2015 by a former Microsoft female employee, seeking back
pay as well as monetary and punitive damages.
 On September 16, 2015, it was reported that a former Microsoft Corp employee
was suing the company for gender discrimination in federal court in Seattle,
Washington, US. Allegedly, female technical employees were paid less and
promoted less frequently than male employees. Also the performance of women
was ranked below that of men. The suit was seeking class action status. Separately,
she made internal complaints about a superior who sexually harassed female
employees. She claimed he retaliated against her by giving her a low bonus and by
decreasing her responsibilities.


Microsoft criticized over disregard for Windows 10 user privacy
Sep 15, 2016 | | TechGenix
On January 10, 2017, it was reported that Microsoft Corp made several changes to
its privacy controls in the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update in order to
address Electronic Frontier Foundation's concerns that it disregarded the choice and
privacy of Windows 10 users.
 On September 15, 2016, the non-proﬁt organization Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF) criticized Microsoft Corp for disregarding the choice and privacy of
Windows 10 users. According to EFF, Windows 10 was designed to send huge
amounts of data back to Microsoft, including location data, text input, voice input,
touch input, web pages visited, and telemetry data regarding the general usage of a
computer. The foundation said that Windows 10 continued to send information back
to Microsoft despite the fact that users chose to disable the features stopping the OS
from sending data. The EFF raised concerns about data gathered by Microsoft,
including the location where the data was stored, how long the data was stored,
and how data was anonymized for user protection. The EFF also stated that the
computer might be at risk for attacks as it would no longer receive security updates
when telemetry was turned down to the lowest setting.
Reports claim Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google browser have high ad fraud rates
Sep 01, 2016 | United States of America | The Wall Street Journal
On September 1, 2016, FraudLogix reported that Microsoft Corp and Google Inc, a
subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, had browsers with the highest ad fraud rates. The
company said that the web browsers could be infected with malicious code
implanted by fraudsters seeking to manipulate consumers for their ﬁnancial gain,
meaning that advertisers would pay for ads that would never be seen by real
people. It was estimated by the US Association of National Advertisers that admen
could have wasted USD 7 billion on ads no one would ever see. Versions of
Google’s Chrome browser and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer were the browsers
with the most fraudulent impressions loaded. Both Microsoft and Google questioned
FraudLogix’s conclusions and methodology, alleging it was not possible to correctly
measure fraud at the browser level.
Microsoft apologizes to Saudi Arabia over Bing translator mistake
Aug 30, 2016 | Saudi Arabia | New York Daily News
On August 30, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corporation had to apologize
over critics against its Bing translation service that suggested that the Arabic
acronym for Islamic State “Daesh” meant Saudi Arabia. The mistaken translation
was noticed by several Saudi social media users, who instantly expressed their
anger on social media calling for a boycott of all Microsoft products. Saudi Arabia
Microsoft's vice president responded to the issue by tweeting an apology for the
unintentional mistake.
EEF accuses Microsoft of disregarding user choice
Aug 18, 2016 | | ZDNet
On August 18, 2016, it was reported that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
accused Microsoft Corp of disregarding user choice in its year-long free upgrade
campaign for Windows 10. Furthermore, an author of a signed editorial accused
Microsoft of disregarding user privacy. In June 2016, a petition had been signed by
6,000 people asking the EFF to investigate Microsoft for "malicious practices
regarding Windows 10."
Microsoft to cut 2,850 jobs in its smartphone division
Jul 29, 2016 | | International Business Times UK
On July 29, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp planned to cut 2,850 jobs
globally in its smartphone division by the end of 2017. The threatened jobs were in
the company’s hardware business and global sales, as part of a restructuring plan.


Improved Search sues Microsoft over patent infringement
Jul 29, 2016 | Delaware, United States of America | RPX Corporation
On July 29, 2016, Improved Search LLC filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for
the District of Delaware against Microsoft Corp over patent infringement. The
company was accused of infringing patents entitled “Method and System for
Translingual Translation of Query and Search and Retrieval of Multilingual
Information on a Computer Network” and “Cross-Language Advertising” by
intentionally directing its customers to use computers or mobile devices for
translating their search queries. Improved Search demanded a trial by jury.
North Star sues Microsoft for patent infringement
Jul 29, 2016 | Delaware, United States of America | RPX Corporation
On July 29, 2016, a lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of
Delaware by North Star Innovations Inc against Microsoft Corp, accusing it of patent
infringement. The defendants infringed the patents entitled “Apparatus and Method
for Observing the Mode of a Memory Device” and “Process for Forming a
Semiconductor Device” by manufacturing, using, offering for sale and selling in the
US, computer products that employed a method for observing a control register in a
memory device and forming semiconductor devices. A trial by jury was demanded
by North Star.
Users complain about battery issues with Microsoft's Surface Pro 3
Jul 27, 2016 | United States of America | Softpedia.com
On July 27, 2016, it was reported that the number of complaints increased
significantly against Microsoft Corporation for issues with its Surface Pro 3. The
device suffered from huge battery drain and in some cases leading to an autonomy
of only an hour. Microsoft explained that was not an issue of the battery cells,
claiming that the problem could be fixed with a software update.
Bayer, Shell, ConAgra, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, UPS, McDonald’s, Microsoft and
others accused of sourcing from prison farms
Jul 25, 2016 | United States of America | countercurrentnews.com
On July 25, 2016, it was reported that several companies, including Bayer AG,
Merck & Co Inc, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, ConAgra Foods Inc, PepsiCo Inc, Bank of
America Corp, Caterpillar Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Exxon Mobil Corp, Eli Lilly & Co,
United Parcel Service Inc, McDonald’s Corp, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Microsoft
Corp, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Motorola Solutions Inc, Starbucks Corp, Verizon
Communications Inc, Nintendo Co Ltd, Pfizer Inc, Chevron Corp, Procter & Gamble
Co, Costco Wholesale Corp, Wendy’s Co, Cargill Inc, John Deere Bank Societe
Anonyme, AT&T Inc, BP PLC, Intl Business Machines Corp, Boeing Co, Texas
Instruments Inc, Dell Inc, Honeywell International Inc, HP Inc, Alcatel-Lucent USA
Inc, Intel Corp, Nordstrom Inc, Revlon Inc, Macy’s Inc, Target Corp, Whole Foods
Market Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Kmart Corp, a subsidiary of Sears Holding
Corp, were profiting from the use of prison labor. It was alleged that prisoners
convicted of various crimes across the US often worked from 6 am, for long hours,
sometimes without water or proper meals, in the companies’ supply chain. In some
cases the prisoners were not paid, while in other cases the hourly pay was as low as
0.17 USD.
CNIL orders Microsoft to stop excessive data collection without users’ consent
Jul 20, 2016 | France | Law360
On July 20, 2016, France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés
(CNIL) ordered Microsoft Corp to stop excessive data collection and monitoring of
user navigation without users' consent. The regulator said that Windows 10 enabled
the company to collect intrusive data on more than 10 million French users. CNIL
directed Microsoft to curtail collections of user data within 90 days.


Update: Microsoft lays off 1,350 employees in Finland
Jul 12, 2016 | Tampere, Finland | Market Exclusive
On July 12, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft laid off 1,350 employees in Finland.
The company planned to close its product development in Tampere.
 On May 25, 2016, Microsoft Corp said that it would lay off 1,850 employees,
writing down USD 950 million. The company sought to restart its mobile strategy
after multiple misfires.
IpLearn asks higher court to overturn lower court’s decision to toss lawsuit against
Microsoft over patent infringement
Jul 07, 2016 | United States of America | Law360
On July 7, 2016, IpLearn-Focus LLC asked the US Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit to overturn a California court’s ruling that tossed claims in three computer
teaching patents asserted against Microsoft Corp’s Xbox Kinect gaming accessory.
The plaintiff argued that the court misinterpreted key parts of the patent to declare
it abstract. The patents described a way for students to learn through a computing
device that included a detached sensor or camera.
Update: Microsoft, Yahoo and Alphabet's Google ordered to ban sex determination
ads
Jul 05, 2016 | India | Times of India
On July 5, 2016, the Indian Supreme Court asked Microsoft Corp, Yahoo Inc and
Alphabet Inc’s subsidiary Google Inc to stop allowing pre-natal sex determination
tests advertisements on their online platforms. The court also asked the federal
government to issue a memorandum on the matter and hold a meeting between
the petitioners, who filed a Public Interest Litigation, and the three companies.
 On January 28, 2015, the Supreme Court in New Delhi, India, ordered Google
Inc's Google India Pvt Ltd, Yahoo! Inc's Yahoo India Pvt Ltd and Microsoft Corp's
Microsoft Corp India Pvt Ltd to strictly comply with Indian laws and block
advertisements promoting prenatal gender selection tests. The order was the result
of a petition filed in 2008 that sought direction for prohibiting sex determination
test advertisements on the internet. The court concluded that the three search
engines had relevant technology and deep-domain knowledge and expertise to
block and filter words and sponsored links in this regard. The court required the
companies to include in their terms of service its order.
Microsoft pays USD 10,000 for its Windows 10 updates
Jun 28, 2016 | United States of America | Business Finance News
On June 28, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was ordered to pay USD
10,000 in a lawsuit brought by one of its customers from California, US, claiming
that Windows 10 was automatically installed on her PC. The update failed and made
her PC unusable.
Eleven Engineering sues Microsoft for patent infringement
Jun 23, 2016 | Delaware, United States of America | Casetext
On June 23, 2016, Eleven Engineering Inc and Eleven Engineering Game Control
LLC filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Delaware against
Microsoft Corp over patent infringement. The plaintiff accused the tech company of
infringing a patent related generally to wireless radio frequency game control
systems.


Microsoft accused of avoiding taxes in UK
Jun 22, 2016 | United Kingdom | Financial Director
On June 22, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was accused of looping GBP
100 million (USD 146.8 million) a year off their corporation tax bill after securing a
confidential deal with HM Revenue & Customs. The company was enabled to book
GBP 8 billion (USD 11.7 billion) worth of revenues from Britain through to Ireland.
The European Commission was investigating the advance pricing agreements (APA)
to decide whether they breached the rules on state aid.
Microsoft approaches the risky legal marijuana industry
Jun 16, 2016 | United States of America | The New York Times
On June 16, 2016, Microsoft Corp announced entering in a partnership with Kind
Financial, a US cannabis industry-focused software company, with the aim of
providing software to state and local governments in their efforts of developing and
monitoring compliance systems. The partnership raised media concerns regarding
the social negative consequences, as, although cannabis had been legalized for
medical or recreational purposes in 25 states, it was still illegal nationwide in the
US.
Court grants Unwired Planet’s motion for summary judgment in lawsuit against
Microsoft over patent infringement
Jun 15, 2016 | Delaware, United States of America | Delaware Intellectual Property
Litigation
On June 15, 2016, the US District Court for the District of Delaware granted
Unwired Planet Inc’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit against Microsoft
Corp over a patent license agreement in which Microsoft agreed to pay USD 10
million upon notice that Unwired Planet closed a "Qualifying Agreement". However,
Microsoft disputed whether an agreement between Unwired Planet and Lenovo PC
International Limited satisfied the conditions of a "Qualifying Agreement" and
refused to pay USD 10 million.
Microsoft criticized for its plan to avoid USD 9 billion in taxes
Jun 13, 2016 | | Bloomberg
On June 13, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was criticized for its plan to
avoid paying USD 9 billion in taxes. The company was planning to fund its takeover
of LinkedIn by borrowing USD 26 billion, using its USD 108 billion cash and cash
equivalents, most of it in offshore, as collateral. Buying the company with borrowed
money would help Microsoft avoid USD 9 billion in federal income taxes in 2016 and
Microsoft could deduct interest payments, which would lower its future US tax bill.
IT companies like Infosys, Wipro decline to confirm labor unions
Jun 11, 2016 | India | The Economic Times
On June 10, 2016, several IT companies in India, including Wipro Ltd, Infosys Ltd
(formerly, Infosys Technologies Limited), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Microsoft
Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp, Juniper Networks Inc,
Miphasis Ltd, and Amazon India, a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, declined to
acknowledge employees' right to form labor unions as provided by the Industrial
Disputes Act. The question arose after the Principal Secretary of the Tamil Nadu
Labor and Employment Department clarified the New Democratic Labor Front - IT
Employees Wing that workforce was free to form unions. He said that 60-80% of IT
employees already decided to join unions if formed, but every single one of them
declined to take the lead to form them because they were scared of consequences.


Update: Zhongyi Zhongbiao urges higher court to revive its suit against Microsoft
over copyright infringement
Jun 08, 2016 | United States of America | Law360
On June 8, 2016, Beijing Zhongyi Zhongbiao Electronic Information Technology
urged the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to revive its lawsuit against
Microsoft Corp. The company was accused of illegally using the plaintiff’s
copyrighted fonts in generations of computer operating systems.
 On July 10, 2012, Beijing Zhongyi ZhongBiao Electronic Information Technology
Co Ltd filed a copyright lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of
Arkansas against Microsoft Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The complaint alleged that
Microsoft incorporated without permission the plaintiff’s Chinese characters in the
Windows 98, 2000, XP and 2003 operating systems on computers sold by Walmart.
The plaintiff claimed that Microsoft ignored a Beijing court's November 2009
injunction by producing and selling new infringing operating systems. The suit
sought damages, a US injunction order barring Microsoft and Walmart from further
infringing activities, and an order impounding or destroying all of the infringing
products.
Microsoft criticized for its clients passwords’ strength policy
May 30, 2016 | United States of America | Sydney Morning Herald
On May 30, 2016, a blogger criticized Microsoft Corp for implementing security
instruments to determine clients to stop using weak passwords with their online
accounts. It was claimed that this policy was not productive, as it would only
encourage users to find new ways around it, in order to keep their passwords
simple, and thus weak. Microsoft had allegedly created a list of common weak
passwords, widely used by hackers, and had implemented tools for stopping its
clients from using them.
Microsoft accused of tricking users into downloading Windows 10
May 27, 2016 | | Mirror Online
On May 27, 2016, it was reported that Microsoft Corp was accused of tricking users
into upgrading to Windows 10. User complaints stated that they had received a
Windows 10 nagware reminder, but when clicking the red “X” to close the dialog,
Microsoft considered that as permission for the upgrade, thus scheduling an upgrade
without users agreeing to it.
Chinese criticize Microsoft’s aggressive means to promote Windows 10 upgrade
May 27, 2016 | China | BBC News
On May 27, 2016, Xinhua reported that over 1.2 million people complained on the
Chinese microblog Weibo about Microsoft Corp’s aggressive methods to persuade
people into upgrading to Windows 10. The news agency learned that the company
changed the pop-up box that regularly appeared to encourage people using
Windows 7 and 8 to upgrade, giving only the option “upgrade now” and “upgrade
tonight” in some cases. Another method Microsoft used was making Windows 10 a
recommended upgrade that was automatically scheduling a date and time for
installation, which users had to manually abandon.
Microsoft to cut 1,850 jobs to restart its mobile strategy
May 25, 2016 | | MarketWatch
On May 25, 2016, Microsoft Corp said that it would lay off 1,850 employees, writing
down USD 950 million. The company sought to restart its mobile strategy after
multiple misfires.

Description Jun 2015 Jun 2014 Jun 2013 Jun 2012 Jun 2011 Units
Net Profit Margin 0.1303 0.2542 0.2808 0.2303 0.3310 n.a.
R&D / Revenue 0.1287 0.1311 0.1337 0.1331 0.1293 n.a.
Description* Jun 2015 Jun 2014 Jun 2013 Jun 2012 Jun 2011 Units
Gross sales (local currency) - - - - -
Gross sales (USD - company reported) - - - - -
Net sales (local currency) 93,580 86,833 77,849 73,723 69,943 USD
Net sales (USD - company reported) 93,580 86,833 77,849 73,723 69,943 USD
In local currency 18,507 27,820 27,052 22,267 28,071 USD
In USD (company reported) 18,507 27,820 27,052 22,267 28,071 USD
In USD (Company Reported) 12,193 22,074 21,863 16,978 23,150 USD
United States 42,941 43,474 41,344 38,846 38,008 USD
Other countries 50,639 43,359 36,505 34,877 31,935 USD
BUSINESS INFORMATION
Mergers and acquisitions
On November 6, 2014, the company acquired Mojang Synergies AB (“Mojang”), the Swedish video game developer
of the Minecraft gaming franchise, for $2.5 billion in cash, net of cash acquired.
On April 25, 2014, it acquired substantially all of Nokia Corporation’s (“Nokia”) Devices and Services business
(“NDS”) for a total purchase price of $9.4 billion, including cash acquired of $1.5 billion.
Net Sales (in Millions) - USD Net Profit (in Millions) - USD Research & Development Expense
(in Millions) - USD
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
Key Ratios
Sales/Total revenue (in millions)
NEBT/PBT (in millions)
Net Profit/Profit After Tax (PAT)/ Net Income (in millions)
Geographic break down of sales/revenues by region (millions or %)
Revenues from Products & Services (millions or %)

1. Google Finance as of September 15, 2016
2. Google Finance as of December 1, 2014
3. Google Finance as of June 19, 2014
4. Form 10K 2016
5. Annual Report 2015
8. Form 10K 2015
Windows Division - 37,674 18,680 18,844 18,815 USD
Server and Tools - - 20,295 18,544 16,571 USD
Online Services Division - - 3,284 2,935 2,680 USD
Entertainment and Devices Division - - 10,213 9,590 8,896 USD
Microsoft Business Division - 49,574 24,738 24,082 22,407 USD
Corporate and other 275.00 -415.00 639.00 -272.00 574.00 USD
Productivity and Business Processes 26,430 - - - - USD
Intelligent Cloud 23,715 - - - - USD
More Personal Computing 43,160 - - - - USD
The company does not provide information on this parameter
In USD ( Company Reported) 12,046 11,381 10,411 9,811 9,043 USD
Source List:
Sales from Renewables
Research and Development (in millions)
Operational Data

6.5
5.0
5.0
4.3
6.7
5.2
7.8
6.0
3.0
3.6
Performance on Key Parameters
Energy
Water
Emissions
Compliance
ENVIRONMENT
Total Energy Consumption (Direct +
Indirect) - MWh
Total direct greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by weight (Scope 1) -
MT CO2e
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emission - MT
CO2e
Indirect greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by weight (Scope 2) -
MT CO2e
Total direct and indirect emissions
(Scope 1+2+3) - MT CO2e
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
50
100
150
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
0
2500000
5000000
7500000
10000000
12500000
KPI Performance

9.0
5.9
9.5
5.3
10.0
6.1
Environmental Strategy
Environmental Management
Environmental Risks
Description Jun 2015 Jun 2014 Jun 2013 Jun 2012 Jun 2011 Units
Total Direct Energy consumption from Fuel Sources /
Total Energy Consumption
- - - - - -
Total Indirect Energy consumption (purchased electricity)
/ Total Energy Consumption
- 0.9076 0.9428 0.9383 0.9361 n.a.
Scope 1 GHG to total GHG emissions - 0.0084 0.0190 0.0269 0.0261 n.a.
Total GHG Emission to Revenue - 117.47 26.81 21.21 21.54
MT
CO2e
/ USD
Paper consumption - 166.25 - - - t
Total direct energy consumption from fuel sources - - - - -
Coal consumption/Coal based energy consumption - - - - -
Natural gas consumption/ Natural gas based energy
consumption
- 108,709 93,065 89,960 - MWh
Fuel oil consumption/Fuel oil based energy
consumption
- 319,313 154,944 162,587 158,824 MWh
Biofuels consumption/Biofuels based energy
consumption
- - - - -
Energy consumed from renewable sources - - - - -
Other fuel consumption/ Other fuel based energy
consumption
- 210,604 36,207 49,500 - MWh
Direct energy consumption of own generated electricity - - - - -
Total direct energy intensity - - - - -
Total indirect energy consumption (purchased
electricity)
- 3,240,620 2,732,483 2,630,343 2,440,617 MWh
Electricity from renewable energy sources (hydro, solar,
wind, geothermal, biomass…)
- 3,240,620 2,300,000 - - MWh
Electricity from coal based generation - - - - -
Electricity from oil based generation - - - - -
Electricity from gas based generation - - - - -
Key Ratios
Materials
Energy

Electricity from nuclear based generation - 10,505 10,872 10,405 7,814 MWh
Total indirect energy intensity - - 37.20 38.40 36.20 MWh/$M
Total energy consumption - 3,570,438 2,898,299 2,803,335 2,607,254 MWh
Energy saved due to conservation and efficiency
improvements
- - - - -
Initiatives/Programs undertaken to reduce energy consumption or achieve targets
The company is designing energy-saving approaches into the new datacenters, such as using outside air cooling and
airside economizers that dramatically cut the energy and water used for cooling. This approach to cooling reduces
energy consumption by 15-20 percent and water consumption by 90 percent. Overall, datacenters average 1.4 PUE
(Power Usage Effectiveness, one measure of data center efficiency), more efficient than the industry average of 1.7
PUE.
The company has a 100 percent renewable energy commitment, which it meets through direct purchases of
renewable energy and the purchase of renewable energy credits. Microsoft currently uses directly purchased
renewable electricity to power 23 percent of its operations, and are exploring opportunities to expand direct
purchase of renewable energy and support the construction of new renewable energy projects. In FY15 Microsoft
purchased more than 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy, and in January 2015 the US
Environmental Protection Agency ranked the company as the secondlargest user of green power in the US. The new
110-megawatt (MW) Keechi Wind project that it funded through a 20-year agreement to purchase 100 percent of its
output came online in FY15, and the company also announced an even larger power purchase agreement for all of
the output of the new 175-MW Pilot Hill Wind Project. The company also generates a small amount of onsite
renewable energy, such as from solar panels covering the rooftops on Silicon Valley campus.
Target type, target value and target scope
Target base year and target base year energy consumption
Target end year
Target met
Initiatives/Programs undertaken to reduce water consumption or achieve targets
Beyond datacenters, Microsoft continues to invest in water-saving fixtures in office buildings and smart landscape
irrigation practices to conserve water.
Target base year and target base year water consumption
Target end year
Energy Efficiency Targets
Water
Water Efficiency Targets

Target met
Total direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope
1)
- 85,188 39,665 42,067 39,327 MT CO2e
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - 72,043 32,180 40,632 - MT CO2e
Methane (CH4) emissions - 22.00 17.00 20.00 - MT CO2e
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions - 137.00 90.00 95.00 - MT CO2e
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) emissions - - - - -
Hydrofluorcarbons (HFCs) emissions - 12,986 7,378 7,765 - MT CO2e
Perfluorcarbons (PFCs) emissions - - - - -
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions - - - - -
Total direct emissions intensity - - 0.50 0.60 0.50
MT
CO2e/$M
Indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by weight
(Scope 2)
- 1,521,370 1,277,364 1,217,167 1,164,218 MT CO2e
Other relevant indirect GHG emissions by weight
(Scope 3)
- 8,593,664 769,839 304,739 303,018 MT CO2e
Total indirect emission intensity - - 3.80 4.20 4.20
MT
CO2e/$M
Total direct and indirect emissions - 10,200,222 2,086,868 1,563,973 1,506,563 MT CO2e
Initiatives/Programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) or achieve targets
Since July 1, 2012, Microsoft has achieved carbon neutrality across global operations, spanning more than 100
countries, for datacenters, software development labs, offices, business air travel, and (as of July 1, 2015) Microsoft-
owned manufacturing operations. In April 2015 Microsoft released a whitepaper describing the progress made with
carbon fee since its inception, in the hope to inspire other organizations to take similar action. Among the results it
details: since the inception of the carbon fee, the company has purchased more than 10 million megawatt-hours
(MWh) of green power, reduced emissions by 7.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e), saved
more than $10 million a year, and had an impact on more than 3.2 million people in emerging nations through
carbon offset community projects.
Initiatives towards obtaining carbon credits
Some of the Credit purchases are:
Forests; Valdavian; VCS+CCBA; 73000 metric tonnes of CO2e
Efficient Stoves ;Improved Ghanaian Cook Stoves; Gold Standard; 18000 metric tonnes of CO2e
Efficient Stoves; Guatemala Water Treatment & Cook Stoves; Gold Standard; 14000 metric tonnes of CO2e
Forests; Rimba Raya REDD+; Other: VCS+CCBA; 52230 metric tonnes of CO2e
Forests; Kasigau Corridor REDD+; Other: VCS+CCBA; 46656 metric tonnes of CO2e
Forests; Meru & Nanyuki Community Reforestation; Other: VCS+CCBA; 32200 metric tonnes of CO2e
Biodiversity
Emissions
Emission Reduction Targets

Target base year and target base year emissions
Target end year
Target met
R&D spent on green product development - - - - -
Programs/Initiatives to improve the environmental characteristics or to mitigate environmental impacts
of products and services and achieve targets
For cities, Microsoft CityNext partners provide solutions spanning energy, water, buildings, infrastructure, and
transportation to help modernize cities in sustainable ways that will minimize their resource use and environmental
impact. The broad portfolio of familiar consumer and business platforms and partner solutions—which many cities
already use—are meeting customers wherever they are on the technology innovation curve and helping them to
build a bridge to the future. Within the Sustainable Cities focus, the company delivers solutions for:
• Buildings, infrastructure, and planning. Microsoft partners are using both design and embedded technology to
lower the energy consumption and improve the performance of buildings. By combining existing systems with
cloud-based analytics and business intelligence capabilities, buildings can be smarter and more efficient, and save
about 10 percent of energy costs per year.
• Energy and water. By using digital technology to integrate and manage distributed energy supply and demand
data, Microsoft partners are working to improve the reliability, security, and efficiency of the electric system, as well
as using technology to measure, manage, and report on carbon and other environmental impacts.
• Transportation. Through software, Microsoft partners are helping to improve the design and operation of transport
networks and run realtime data systems that can facilitate cleaner and more efficient transport choices.
Programs to reduce CO2/GHG emissions of products
With Microsoft Azure, businesses can use Microsoft carbon neutral datacenters for on-demand compute and storage,
helping save energy costs and reduce their company’s carbon footprint while also reducing the capital costs
associated with purchasing hardware and infrastructure. The Microsoft cloud is also connecting public and private
data sources with the privacy, security, and control needed for cities to have effective cross-departmental
collaboration and resource sharing for greater efficiency; the scalability and cost-effectiveness of cloud services help
reduce costs without cutting essential services. Organizations that invest in Microsoft Azure will be able to harvest
information and data as resources to help service increasing populations more efficiently and with less waste.
Programs to improve the environmental characteristics of products (related to energy consumption)
The company is focused on and committed to increasing computing power per unit of energy consumed across the
services and devices that it offers in the marketplace. Each new version of Windows offers enhancements to energy
efficiency and power management tools, including a new Energy Saver Mode added to Windows 10. Third-party
applications also have an important role to play, and the company provides energy-smart development guidance
and tools for developers and IT professionals developing for the Windows platform. In FY15, Microsoft certified its
first ENERGY STAR and EPEAT registered product, Surface Pro 3, when the standards were revised to bring tablets
NOx, SOx, and other significant air emissions by type and weight
Effluents and Waste
Total weight of Waste by Type and Disposal method

into scope. FY15 was also the first year for ULE 110 certifications of mobile phones. This certification establishes
multiple sustainability criteria for mobile phones, including packaging, materials, manufacturing and operations,
energy efficiency of the power supply, health and environment, and end of life management. All Xbox consoles are
configured to automatically reduce energy use while inactive.
Software programs used to improve the environmental characteristics of products (related to energy
consumption)
With Microsoft Azure, businesses can use Microsoft carbon neutral datacenters for on-demand compute and storage,
helping save energy costs and reduce their company’s carbon footprint while also reducing the capital costs
associated with purchasing hardware and infrastructure. The Microsoft cloud is also connecting public and private
data sources with the privacy, security, and control needed for cities to have effective cross-departmental
collaboration and resource sharing for greater efficiency; the scalability and cost-effectiveness of cloud services help
reduce costs without cutting essential services. Organizations that invest in Microsoft Azure will be able to harvest
information and data as resources to help service increasing populations more efficiently and with less waste.
Targets to improve the environmental characteristics of products (other than energy consumption)
Target base year and Target base year value
Target end year
Target met
Team and approach on development of sustainability services
The Safety, Compliance, and Sustainability team within the Microsoft Devices Group incorporates environmental and
safety principles and processes in the design and production of its devices and product packaging. The team works
with design groups through a Design for Green initiative to evaluate and encourage the use of more
environmentally benign materials, increase the recyclability of devices and packaging, and minimize material use.
The team provides guidance on alternative materials and other ways to address environmental impacts.
Monetary value of significant fines for non-compliance
with environmental laws and regulations (in thousands)
- - - - -
Non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations
Cases of environmental litigations/law suits
Life Cycle Analysis
Amount spent on LCA
Compliance

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