The following news article – reported on the BBC but repeated elsewhere – is perhaps the most important issue for cloud computing today (particularly in the consumer space). Our post-Snowden world is being shaped by legal arguments in the USA which have profound implications for the use of global cloud services. If Microsoft is forced to hand over data from its Dublin data-centers then companies concerned about the US gaining access to their data will have to avoid US companies entirely. Watch this space!

BBC News – Microsoft ‘must release’ data held on Dublin server.