Dark Clouds: are regulations applied to the cloud stimulating innovation?

It is clear that cloud computing offers society many potential benefits. However, its take-up is still being held back by much fear, uncertainty and doubt among not just potential cloud users, but also some policymakers and regulators. The position is exacerbated by the fact that current laws are not technology neutral. Indeed, arguably, European Union (EU) laws are being applied so as to discriminate against cloud computing, in part perhaps because of fears regarding US technology companies’ dominance in the cloud market and/or their excessive collection of EU residents’ personal data.
This article gives some illustrative examples, and argues that the situation needs reconsideration. While the focus is on EU laws, the ways in which they have been applied have broader relevance to technology neutrality generally.

Dark Clouds? Are regulations being applied to cloud computing in a way that stimulates innovation, asks Kuan Hon, International Institute of Communications, January 2015.