आईसीटी समाचार
According to a report released on Tuesday, draft EU laws aimed at limiting the influence of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet subsidiary Google, and Facebook could also target cloud computing service providers for alleged anti-competitive conduct. The claim comes amid fears that certain EU parliamentarians considering EU antitrust head Margrethe Vestager's proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) may be lenient toward cloud computing corporations. According to market research firm Statista, Amazon's Amazon Web Services was the biggest supplier in the second quarter, followed by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Salesforce, and Oracle are among the others. In his personal role, Frederic Jenny, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Competition Committee, compiled the report for the trade group Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE). According to the survey, the new EU standards should also encompass software licensing, with respondents highlighting unreasonable terms imposed by certain large software businesses to get access to their cloud infrastructure.
In an interview with Reuters, Jenny said, "The DMA does specify that cloud infrastructure might come inside the purview of the DMA, but it is not evident that all the providers are included." "For example, it doesn't appear that Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, or Salesforce qualify as gatekeepers under the DMA." Some corporations may employ anti-competitive tactics such as unfair pricing or measures to make switching to a competitor technically difficult, he added. Jenny said the survey spoke with 25 businesses that utilize cloud computing services, and several of them raised concerns about unfair license conditions, which compel consumers to pay again to use software they already own when they switch to a rival.
Respondents were also concerned about cloud providers combining software with their infrastructure in order to make competing goods less appealing or more expensive. Google, Oracle, and SAP did not respond to requests for comment. Requests for comment from Microsoft and Amazon were not immediately returned. Before it becomes law, potentially in 2023, EU legislators must work out the draft DMA with EU nations.
