Comment by seanmcdirmid
4 months ago
Just for cars. Microsoft has been independent in China since the late 90s, although they had to find a partner to do Azure.
4 months ago
Just for cars. Microsoft has been independent in China since the late 90s, although they had to find a partner to do Azure.
> although they had to find a partner to do Azure.
By "finding a partner" you actually mean have Azure-branded services provided by Chinese companies through isolated data centers.
Which kind of proves OPs point.
Do they use the same Microsoft software and the Azure APIs that are available in the rest of the world?
Yes. As for AWS, some of the services are not available in CN. But the APIs are the same for the services that are available.
For some MS software, you need to sign an additional agreement consenting to cross-border transfer of personal data before use. But the features are the same.
Same as AWS ("cn" regions) which often has different rules, especially with cross-region comms.
Same applies to the US gov cloud regions and Apple's iCloud.
Microsoft operated in China for more than a decade before azure was a thing. A lot of companies did, Microsoft is just the one I’m familiar with.
Almost everyone in China pirated Windows and Office. Microsoft were unable to do anything about it, and gave up trying.
Western companies have virtually no IP in China. It gets stolen and IP rights are not enforcible - western companies basically cannot sue Chinese companies. Chinese companies can enforce their IP against western companies, who have to surrender theirs to access the Chinese market. The system is completely rigged in China's favour.
The only way to level that playing field is for western nations to do the same: Let their domestic companies freely steal Chinese IP and selectively enforce IP rights, as China does.
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