The Cloud: Boundless Digital Potential or Enclosure 3.0?

Trento Lawtech former visiting professor, David Lametti from McGill University, who will be returning to Trento in Spring 2013, has just published a truly innovative article on the Virginia Journal of Law & Technology, framing the risks and the novel legal issues posed by the advent of Cloud Computing. Anyone interested in the development of Cyberlaw should read this article.

This is the abstract of David’s article:

The Cloud presents enormous potential for users to have access to facilities such as vast data storage and infinite computing capacity. Yet the Cloud, taken from the perspective of the average user, does have a dark side. I agree with a number of writers and the concerns that they raise about privacy and personal autonomy on the Internet and the Cloud. However, I wish to voice concern over another change. From the perspective of users, the Cloud might also reduce the range of user possibilities for robust interaction with the Internet/Cloud in a manner that then prevents users from participating in the Internet as creators, collaborators, and sharers. The Cloud is “manageable” in a way the Internet was not. By focusing on the entities that provide Cloud services, I argue that we might take steps to encourage or, if necessary, force private entities to keep the Cloud open and accessible in the long term. I also posit the desirability of a publicly held Cloud to achieve this same end.

The article is freely accessible here

Congrats David from all the Trento LawTech members for this important piece of scholarship!