Rules patchwork 'threatens cloud computing growth'

A global patchwork of conflicting laws and regulations could hobble the growth of the cloud computing market, said a study released on February 22.
The study, commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), urged governments to move to harmonise the rules to ease the flow of information across borders and allow the full benefit of advances to be realised.
The technology involves storing massive amounts of data and applications on an Internet "cloud" spread globally instead of the traditional method of installing information on users' machines or company servers.
It enables easy access to and sharing of information anywhere, even while on the move.
But the study, carried out for BSA by IT consulting firm Galexia, said some countries were "placing geographic restrictions on data and considering other limits on outsourcing of work."
It cited the European Union's proposed "Data Protection Regulation" which it said "has the potential to undermine its benefits with new, overly prescriptive rules".
It said the regulations "threaten to undermine the economic advances that a truly global cloud can provide."