Cloud computing is one of the current waves in information technology. This article explores some of the key legal issues in cloud computing.

Cloud computing allows the user to transfer many (if not all) of the user’s computing functions done via personal computer applications, and the user’s data, to a remote location maintained by the cloud computing service provider and accessible by the user through high-speed connections.

Essentially, cloud computing is the convergence of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS), in a Web 2.0 environment. In this context the “cloud” is a metaphor for the Internet, but within that cloud is a complex web of technology and virtualization infrastructures, and significant legal risks.

While many businesses enter into agreements for third parties to handle the cloud platform, some businesses are developing and maintaining their own “cloud.”

Cloud computing offers many efficiencies and potential cost-savings for the business community, but must be approached cautiously lest the cloud become a fog in which the user loses his way and falls from the cloud into a legal quagmire.