05 August, 2011

RD356 - ETNO Reflection Document replying to the public consultation on Cloud Computing

ETNO belives there is no need for specific regulatory or legislative action on cloud computing. In particular, there should be no new consumer rights introduced. General rules of data protection and consumer protection should be applied to all actors. The main barriers include divergent implementation of the Data Protection and Data Retention Directives. Interoperability, standardisation and data portability are key issues.

Executive Summary:

  • Cloud computing is expected to bring significant benefits to many sectors of the economy, driving growth, productivity and trade.
  • There is no need for specific regulatory or legislative action on cloud computing. In particular, there should be no new consumer rights introduced by the cloud environment, rather the general rules of data protection and consumer protection should be applied to all actors. Harmonisation of data protection legislation is required to avoid the large divergences in implementation which is a challenge for cloud computing as a cross-border service.
  • The main barriers to providing cloud computing services are related to the divergent implementation of the Data Protection and Data Retention Directives, consumer protection rules, fiscal regulation among EU Member States, copyright laws, the risk of fraud and the diverse economic realities in different territories.
  • All players in the value chain must assume their responsibilities with regard to providing their part of a cloud computing service. Typically contracts will outline relevant terms and specify the jurisdiction.
  • Interoperability, standardisation and data portability are key issues for cloud computing and are being addressed through ongoing industry initiatives. Industry consortia should seek to guarantee open procedures, non-discriminatory access and transparent, legally certain and balanced intellectual property right policies
  • The most important technology evolution for cloud architectures and services is on advanced Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) paradigms, including investigation of the technical feasibility of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions and the management of multi-technology and multi-tenant clouds. IT and network convergence, data, content and cloud management are major research topics in cloud computing. Research and innovation funds are recommended for long term research projects.

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