How Amazon's AWS arm allegedly makes profits off open-source software; leaving cloud computing startups languishing

For Amazon itself, AWS has become crucial. In October 2015, Amazon’s cloud computing arm announced it was copying Elastic’s free software tool, which people use to search and analyse data, and would sell it as a paid service. Amazon has used its cloud computing arm — called Amazon Web Services, or AWS — to copy and integrate software that other tech companies pioneered. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, once called AWS an idea “no one asked for.” The service began in the early 2000s when the retailer struggled to assemble computer systems to start new projects and features. “There was a company that built a business around an open-source product that people like using, and suddenly they have a competitor using their own stuff against them,” said Todd Persen, who started a non open-source software company this year so there was “zero chance” that Amazon could lift his creations.