Slashdot Mirror
Movable Clouds Migrate To Chase Tax Breaks
1sockchuck writes "State legislators have been offering huge tax incentives to attract data center projects from cloud-builders. But what happens if the political climate changes and the tax break disappears? If you're Microsoft, you can just take your cloud and move it someplace else. The infrastructure for the Windows Azure platform is being migrated out of a facility in central Washington after the state ruled that data centers no longer qualify for a tax exemption on equipment. Mike Manos, a key player in site selection for many major data centers, predicts that future cloud platforms will move often to chase lower taxes or cheaper power."
Microsoft has put its Azure customers on notice that 'all applications and storage accounts in the 'USA - Northwest' region will need to move to another region in the next few months, or they will be deleted'. So much for not diverting you from your core duties). BTW, Microsoft seems to think it's entitled to a 100% sales tax exemption.
It was created to protect the corporate officers from liability
Which in turn benefits society. Who in their right mind would make a commercial aircraft if they weren't shielded from liability?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Considering the track record of tech companies and their quest to save a few bucks at the expense of American jobs, it's just a matter of time before all of your data in the cloud winds up overseas. Who has access to read through your sensitive documents when that time comes? The article shows how easy it us for one cloud provider to uproot the collective data of thousands of companies and move it anywhere they please. Where will they move the data next? Read this article, "Your data in a cloud over India": http://techclub.mypctechs.com/?p=364
LeoPolus Web Design: http://www.leopolus.com
"We pay for the power setup, the roads, the police force-- they pay none of these costs"
Firstly, "they" pay 40% corporation tax - the second highest in the world. What more do you want? Do you really want to see the total collapse of the US economy as corporations buckle under an even heavier tax burden?
Secondly, who are "they"? A corporation is composed of three groups of people - employees, shareholders and customers. In reality "they" is in fact you, me and everyone else here and it's us who pays the costs of higher taxes on corporations.
If you tax a corporation the money has to either come from raising prices, cutting the workforce or taking a hit and suffering a reduction in share value. In all of these situations it's the public who pays the cost, either through higher prices of goods and services, losing their job or a suffering a reduction in the value of the shares in their retirement account.
When corporations get taxed it comes out of your pocket and it's you that suffers. Quite why you'd want to see them taxed more I don't know.