Cloud computing service providers should also be able to target by the draft EU laws aimed at limiting the power of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet's Google, and Facebook aimed at reducing anti-competitive behavior, according to research released on Tuesday.
The release of this report also comes amid growing concerns that some EU parliamentarians considering that the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) will be more lenient toward cloud computing corporations.
According to market research firm Statista, the biggest supplier in the second quarter of this year in this industry was Amazon's Amazon Web Services, followed by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Salesforce, and Oracle are among the others.
The study report was prepared in his personal capacity for trade body CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) by Frederic Jenny, chairman of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Competition Committee.
"The DMA does say that cloud infrastructure can come within the ambit of the DMA but it is not obvious that all the suppliers are covered, for example, it doesn't seem that Google Cloud qualifies under the DMA as a gatekeeper or IBM Cloud or Salesforce," Jenny said in an interview to the media.
He said that it is possible for some firms in this sector to make it technically impossible for people to switch to a competitor or implement unfair pricing by employing anti-competitive tactics.
25 organizations that utilize cloud computing services were interviewed for the study and some of the interviewees raised concerns about issues including unfair license terms, which compel consumers to pay again to use software they already own when they switch to a competitor.
The practice of combining software with their cloud infrastructure in order to make offers from competitors less appealing or more expensive was also reported to be a cause of concern.
There were no comments on the issue by Google, Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Before it becomes law, possibly in 2023, EU legislators must work out the draft DMA with EU member countries.
(Source:www.investing.com)
The release of this report also comes amid growing concerns that some EU parliamentarians considering that the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) will be more lenient toward cloud computing corporations.
According to market research firm Statista, the biggest supplier in the second quarter of this year in this industry was Amazon's Amazon Web Services, followed by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Salesforce, and Oracle are among the others.
The study report was prepared in his personal capacity for trade body CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) by Frederic Jenny, chairman of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Competition Committee.
"The DMA does say that cloud infrastructure can come within the ambit of the DMA but it is not obvious that all the suppliers are covered, for example, it doesn't seem that Google Cloud qualifies under the DMA as a gatekeeper or IBM Cloud or Salesforce," Jenny said in an interview to the media.
He said that it is possible for some firms in this sector to make it technically impossible for people to switch to a competitor or implement unfair pricing by employing anti-competitive tactics.
25 organizations that utilize cloud computing services were interviewed for the study and some of the interviewees raised concerns about issues including unfair license terms, which compel consumers to pay again to use software they already own when they switch to a competitor.
The practice of combining software with their cloud infrastructure in order to make offers from competitors less appealing or more expensive was also reported to be a cause of concern.
There were no comments on the issue by Google, Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Before it becomes law, possibly in 2023, EU legislators must work out the draft DMA with EU member countries.
(Source:www.investing.com)