Skype lost an appeal against a €30,000 fine issued in Belgium after it failed to comply with a court request to share data of a user who is a suspect in a criminal investigation dating from 2012, media reports stated.

The fine was issued in 2016, but Microsoft-owned Skype said accessing the data was not technically possible at the time of the original request.

A judge at an appeals court in Antwerp said the service is considered a telecoms operator in the country and legally must give up the data.

Skype argued it wasn’t because Microsoft has no infrastructure or Skype employees in Belgium. However, the judgement, out this week, said it “indisputably” is a telecoms operator and upheld the penalty.

Het Nieuwsblad quoted the decision: “An operator or service provider who targets Belgian consumers on the Belgian economic market must comply with Belgian regulations and must organise themselves in such a way that they can easily comply with the court’s claims”.

A representative for Microsoft said the company was considering further legal options.