Lee and leeway

Tik Tok is in trouble, allegedly due to national security concern. Some other high tech companies seem to have more leeway. Students can use Microsoft Office for free. But Microsoft isn’t punished for dumping. Google pays little tax. There is little problem with that. Why do some companies get leeway while others don’t?

Lee side means sheltered side. In Chinese, inside (里) is pronounced lee. So lee side means inside. If you are an insider, you are at the lee side and you get leeway. If you are an outsider, you are not at the lee side and you don’t get leeway.

Almost all successful high tech companies are in the US, the only superpower in the world. It is not that everyone else is stupid. But if you want to have leeway, you have to be at the lee side.

This situation is not restricted to the US, nor restricted to the high tech industry. Everywhere you go, if you want to gain some leeway, you had better stay at the lee side.