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In this new oped piece for @socialeurope I provide evidence on how #BigTech are enclosing the internet by expanding their intellectual monopolies through their #CloudComputing business

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socialeurope.eu/enclosing-the-internet-big-techs-cloud-cover

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By 2025, 45% of the world’s data storage will be on the cloud. And the public cloud's ownership is overwhelmingly dominated by Amazon, Microsoft and Google (around 65% of cloud-infrastructure services).

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Even #Netflix said it relied on Amazon's cloud (#AWS ) and could not easily switch to another cloud provider. #Uber , which can only operate via #Google Maps, has similarly recognised its dependence. Leading European corporations did likewise in a 2021 report for the EC

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Cloud services code is not accessible to customers who know what certain services can be used for, but cannot learn from them since they cannot gain access to the algorithms making those things happenβ€”even if they were partly developed by universities & public research orgs

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W/ @JuanMGrana & @sebiffranco we studied #Siemens as example of such tech dependence
#BigTech AI algorithms self-improve by processing data, further widening tech gap w/ other firms
And they become rivals: they have entered Siemens' medical business

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journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10245294221097066
Such economic power eludes regulatory frameworks. Even the EU #Digital Markets Act remains focused on markets. Problematic b/c #BigTech are not only market but also knowledge and information gatekeepers and this must be dismantled

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