Cloud computing - legal issues in the cloud

1. INTRODUCTION

The internet, our relationship with it, and our culture are about to undergo a change as profound and unsettling as the development of web 2.0 in the last decade, which made social media and search – Google and YouTube, Facebook and Twitter – mass, global phenomena. The rise of "cloud computing" will trigger a battle for control over a digital landscape that is only just coming into view.¹

Cloud computing services have been on offer for many years – most noticeably with free consumer services ranging from the launch of Hotmail to Gmail and social media sites like Facebook. But the scale and use of cloud computing – in particular as an enterprise or business solution – is being heralded as the next big thing in the IT industry.