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01:26 The global harms of restrictive cloud licensing, one year later | Google Cloud Blog

• Google Cloud filed a formal complaint with the European Commission one year ago about Microsoft’s anti-competitive cloud licensing practices, specifically the 400% price markup Microsoft imposes on customers who move Windows Server workloads to non-Azure clouds.
• The UK Competition and Markets Authority found that restrictive licensing costs UK cloud customers £500 million annually due to lack of competition, while US government agencies overspend by $750 million yearly because of Microsoft’s licensing tactics.
• Microsoft recently disclosed that forcing software customers to use Azure is one of three pillars driving its growth and is implementing new licensing changes preventing managed service providers from hosting certain workloads on Azure competitors.
• Multiple regulators globally including South Africa and the US FTC are now investigating Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices, with the CMA finding that Azure has gained customers at 2-3x the rate of competitors since implementing restrictive terms.
• A European Centre for International Political Economy study suggests ending restrictive licensing could unlock €1.2 trillion in additional EU GDP by 2030 and generate €450 billion annually in fiscal savings and productivity gains.

03:32 Jonathan – “I’d feel happier about these complaints Google were making if they actually reciprocated the deals they make for their customers in the...