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6.3.2.3 Concentration of Power and Oligopolies in the Cloud
Computing Industry
As previously highlighted, the cloud overarches national and international
borders and boundaries. Indeed, it may be observed that cloud computing
has accelerated the pace of a truly global world (Mohamed and Pillutla
2014). While the cloud is offered to users all over the world, cloud computing as an industry is very much concentrated in the hands of a relatively
small number of providers, akin to an oligopolistic market. These providers sustain the cost of the cloud infrastructure and decide on the cloud
services provided. An issue commonly associated with oligopolies is the
control that the small number of companies providing a specific good or
service have on setting prices. This concern is also prevalent with regard to
cloud computing: Feng et al. 2014 conduct an analysis of cloud providers’
pricing strategy, addressing the cloud computer economic arena as an oligopoly market. Timmermans et al. (2010) assert that a significant amount
of cloud computing innovation originates in the US. Synergy Research
Group (Alley 2019) tracks such activity and reports that 38% of worldwide
hyperdata centres are located in the US. It also reports that Amazon,
Microsoft, Google, Alibaba and Oracle are the most active companies in
this arena. These are effectively stockpiling information about consumers,
presumably seeking to gain some competitive advantage in the process.
In these aforementioned contributions, there is no explicit mention of
ethical issues associated with the concentration of power in a key industry
such as cloud computing. Usually, ethical issues related to concentration
of power regard the (un)fair treatment of the weak party in the economic
agreement (Crane and Matten 2016) i.e. powerful oligopolies can establish terms and conditions that violate the rights of final users, who are
effectively forced to accept them if they want to benefit from the service.
Whatever the selected approach to ethics might be, a concentration of
power is usually not in favour of the satisfaction of the greatest number of
people (Utilitarianism), nor of the respect of established rules
(Deontological Ethics).
Moreover, concentration of power which generates oligopolies is also
responsible for spreading particular cultural influences. Timmermans et al.
(2010) reflect on such trends within cloud computing and ponder if
Western values may thereby dominate pertinent future applications, frameworks and regulations, and lead to ‘increasing cultural homogenization’
(2010, p. 5). This argument is discussed by Ess (2001) who posits that
today’s multicultural domains ‘reflect an extensive diversity, if not
6 ETHICS AND CLOUD COMPUTING
6.3.2.3 Concentration of Power and Oligopolies in the Cloud
Computing Industry
As previously highlighted, the cloud overarches national and international
borders and boundaries. Indeed, it may be observed that cloud computing
has accelerated the pace of a truly global world (Mohamed and Pillutla
2014). While the cloud is offered to users all over the world, cloud computing as an industry is very much concentrated in the hands of a relatively
small number of providers, akin to an oligopolistic market. These providers sustain the cost of the cloud infrastructure and decide on the cloud
services provided. An issue commonly associated with oligopolies is the
control that the small number of companies providing a specific good or
service have on setting prices. This concern is also prevalent with regard to
cloud computing: Feng et al. 2014 conduct an analysis of cloud providers’
pricing strategy, addressing the cloud computer economic arena as an oligopoly market. Timmermans et al. (2010) assert that a significant amount
of cloud computing innovation originates in the US. Synergy Research
Group (Alley 2019) tracks such activity and reports that 38% of worldwide
hyperdata centres are located in the US. It also reports that Amazon,
Microsoft, Google, Alibaba and Oracle are the most active companies in
this arena. These are effectively stockpiling information about consumers,
presumably seeking to gain some competitive advantage in the process.
In these aforementioned contributions, there is no explicit mention of
ethical issues associated with the concentration of power in a key industry
such as cloud computing. Usually, ethical issues related to concentration
of power regard the (un)fair treatment of the weak party in the economic
agreement (Crane and Matten 2016) i.e. powerful oligopolies can establish terms and conditions that violate the rights of final users, who are
effectively forced to accept them if they want to benefit from the service.
Whatever the selected approach to ethics might be, a concentration of
power is usually not in favour of the satisfaction of the greatest number of
people (Utilitarianism), nor of the respect of established rules
(Deontological Ethics).
Moreover, concentration of power which generates oligopolies is also
responsible for spreading particular cultural influences. Timmermans et al.
(2010) reflect on such trends within cloud computing and ponder if
Western values may thereby dominate pertinent future applications, frameworks and regulations, and lead to ‘increasing cultural homogenization’
(2010, p. 5). This argument is discussed by Ess (2001) who posits that
today’s multicultural domains ‘reflect an extensive diversity, if not
6 ETHICS AND CLOUD COMPUTING