U.S. FTC requests information on cloud companies’ business practices

 

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is requesting information from the public to gain more insight into cloud providers’ business practices, reflecting concerns over their impact on the competition, security issues, and overall market power.

 The government agency is specifically seeking input from users of cloud services, academics, civil society groups, and industry participants. 

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle lead the U.S. cloud computing sector, thus raising concerns among the FTC, the Justice Department, and the Biden Administration over potential security issues and their unfair influence over U.S. consumers. 
  • The aforementioned cloud giants have been scrutinized due to what the Biden administration sees as an abuse of market power driven by questionable business practices, including a lack of transparent pricing, discouraging cloud usage from external cloud companies, and mergers that hinder competition. 
  • Those who wish to submit a comment to the FTC’s Request for Information have until May 22 to do so.

  • Last year, Europe’s antitrust authority began probing Microsoft through a questionnaire that examined the U.S. software giant’s alleged anticompetitive practices.

Post a Comment

Previous Next

Contact Form