Columns

Location Matters Up in the Cloud

The Wikileaks disclosure of hundreds of U.S. diplomatic cables has dominated news coverage for the past two weeks as governments struggled to respond to public disclosure of sensitive, secret information.  My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) noted that one of the most noteworthy developments in the first week was Amazon’s decision to abruptly stop hosting the Wikileaks site hours after U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman exerted political pressure on the company to do so.  

Amazon is best known for its e-commerce site, yet it is also one of the world’s leading cloud computing providers, offering instant website hosting to thousands of companies and websites. In recent years, the combination of massive computer server farms in remote locations and high speed networks have enabled cloud computing to emerge as a critical mechanism for offering online services and delivering Internet content.

After Amazon pulled the plug, Wikileaks quickly shifted to a European host, demonstrating how easily sites can shift from one cloud provider to another. Although it seems counter-intuitive to consider the physical location of cloud computing equipment when discussing services that by their very definition operate across borders in the “cloud”, the Wikileaks-Amazon incident provided an important reminder that location matters when it comes to cloud computing.

The notion of cloud forum shopping is relatively new, but likely to become more important as legal rules have a direct effect on cloud services and public confidence in them. Interestingly, Canada is well-positioned to emerge as a cloud computing leader in a world where service providers compete at least in part on regulatory frameworks.  

Cloud computing offers many advantages, yet since some consumers and business executives remain wary of the privacy and security implications of storing personal information in unseen computer server farms, confidence in the cloud computing model is directly linked to assurances that real-space privacy protections continue to function in the cloud.

Canadian leadership in this area is evident in several respects. Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart and Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian have been ahead of the curve on the issue with reports on the privacy implications of cloud computing.

Their analysis concludes that the Canadian privacy law framework is applicable regardless of the technology, importing accountability requirements to cloud providers.  So long as the data is collected or stored in Canada, privacy regulators can exercise jurisdiction over their operations. Forthcoming regulations on mandatory security breach reporting requirements could also help position Canada as a cloud leader, since the new rules would provide greater transparency on the security of personal data stored in the cloud.

Canada’s cloud computing advantage may extend beyond its privacy laws.  There are also important environmental advantages that come with basing cloud computing server farms in the Canadian north. These include easy access to clean energy sources such as wind and geo-thermal energy and, given the colder climate, decreased energy requirements to cool the computer server farms.  Once high-speed, optical networks that run north – south between the Canadian arctic and the major Canadian urban centres are added to the mix, there is the potential to run large networks that use minimal energy and have the power to instantly transfer huge amounts of data.

Positioning Canada as a cloud computing leader has not emerged as a focal point of the digital economy strategy, yet it offers the chance to provide Canadians with greater assurances of the privacy and security of their data once it is transferred to the cloud, while attracting new technology businesses who may see Canada as an attractive location from which to base their global cloud computing operations.

24 Comments

  1. More Advantages
    “Canada’s cloud computing advantage may extend beyond its privacy laws. There are also important environmental advantages that come with basing cloud computing server farms in the Canadian north.”

    Yes. Computers generate a lot of heat when running. A cloud farm in Canada will be cheaper to cool since the one thing we have plenty of is cold; just open the door and let the breeze blow through. 🙂

    Happ Holidays

  2. Definitely hope that this is considered. But I’m overly pessimistic.


  3. Well, the US administration just managed to completely compromise the idea of using “cloud computing” for any critical application.

    Nap.

  4. Do you have wi-fi in your igloo…
    Can’t wait for the jokes from my US friends to start 🙂


  5. But seriously, yes it is a good idea, the heat generated by just one enclosure is enough to almost heat a house. If they can use that energy of the server farm to heat homes or businesses then why not….good idea, thanks for the article.

  6. Not Americans
    Can we refer to our people as citizens instead of consumers please?
    We are not herds, we are hordes.

  7. Richard Pitt says:

    The privacy implications of are just the tip of the ice berg. From some people’s (and jurisdictions’) point of view the tax implications of where your data/services are hosted may be even more problematic
    http://digital-rag.com/article.php/BusinessOrPersonalTaxNexus – details problem of having a BC business hosted on servers in New York where the state is looking for any excuse to tax.


  8. The cost of maintaining such critical systems in such locations may ultimately counterbalance any savings gained due to the the geography and lower rent. Everything becomes more expensive…staff will generally be more difficult to find and cost more to hire, difficulty in hiring staff could cause issues with vacation coverage of existing staff, training to keep up on technologies will generally require travel expenses and again, there is the coverage issue, longer downtimes and higher shipping expenses for replacement parts, in the case of critical infrastructure failures that knocks the entire cloud off-line, etc.. I just don’t see providors rushing to the great white North.


  9. @btrussell: “We are not herds, we are hordes.”

    Camilla and Charles had that abrupt revelation yesterday:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/camilla-parker-bowles-car-attacked-by-protesters-2010-11#

    Nap.

  10. I don’t think so Tim
    Said by the Doc:
    – “Canada’s cloud computing advantage may extend beyond its privacy laws.”

    I fail to see any advantage to hosting in Canada. Especially with all the defamation lawsuits in Canada where someone needs only to accuse you to get you in court and bankrupt you. Ie. Crookes, Isohunt, p2pnet.net, The Fourniers, openpolitcs.ca, to name but only a few. Then we can get into the SLAPP lawsuits in Canada (I think only Quebec has anti-SLAPP legislation).

    Canada is the last place on earth I would host anything.

    Since you mention wikileaks in your story, I want to bring your attention to the Canadian WikiLeaks mirrors:

    Canadian WikiLeaks mirrors could spark legal battles
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Canadian+WikiLeaks+mirrors+could+spark+legal+battles/3957897/story.html

    Seems Americans can go after you here if there is something hosted that they don’t like.
    Seems The RCMP and CSIS will do the Americans bidding if the Americans don’t like something.

    “David Elder, a lawyer and an internet law expert at Stikeman Elliott law firm, said the U.S. government, through the mutual assistance legal treaty, has the power to ask the Canadian government to investigate, acquire information and gather necessary warrants needed to prosecute.”

    So what privacy protections? Seems there is none. Zip. Nadda. Zilch. Zero.

    After the Americans get CSIS and the RCMP to investigate you and send them all the info on you due to embarrassing American leaks (yup, investigated due to U.S. embarrassment), they will then tell you to take the site offline and if you don’t the hosting service, the one hosting the content and the ISP are liable.

    I’m sorry Doc, but what is the Canadian advantage again? What Canadian sovereignty is there?

    We have a privacy law and cheap hydro? Oh goodie. But, what exactly does that do to leverage an advantage in Canada when the U.S. calls the shots and our laws are outdated?

    I don’t see what you see based on the examples written directly on this website over the years.

  11. Cloud use
    Ubuntu Linux version 10.04 is offering cloud support built into, and on the OS menu… see the link

    http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/features#apps

  12. Price fixing
    http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/12/09/eu_fines_5_companies_for_being_lcd_cartel

    I’m looking forward to the moment when they’ll go after our beloved “the industry”.

    Nap.


  13. @pc: “Ubuntu Linux version 10.04 is offering cloud support built into, and on the OS menu…”

    Which applications and data currently residing on your PC would you like to move into “the cloud”?

    Nap.

  14. Yet another one
    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/11/1346227/Canadian-Supreme-Court-To-Decide-If-Linking-Is-Publishing

    Linking is pretty much like quoting the ISBN, chapter and paragraph numbers in a book. The difference with Internet is that you can get instant access to that book instead of ordering it through your local public library.

    So how many judges/years do we need to decide this?

    Nap.

  15. Privacy Laws Are Useless If Not Enforced
    Given we have cherry-picking (read: bought-off) prosecutors, known scam/credit card # sharing/Debit PIN sharing sites have been operating in Vancouver for years and years untouched as kids hacking chatrooms go to jail almost immediately.

    Our laws are a joke if not enforced correctly and in I.T., they rarely ever have!

  16. Cloud computing is a joke
    With the Internet oligopolies in place, it looks like unlikely that “fog” computing will be cost-effective or practical in the near future, and likely beyond that. That does not even take into account the amount of problems that “fog” computing had. Relying on it for general computer is a really bad decision, not only with privacy concerns but also the fact that control over your own computer is effectively given up. I think the current hoopla in “fog” computing is the success of remarketing an old concept (web-based-and-hosted-applications) in addition to the effect of transitioning from one extreme to another. Windows is the opposite extreme: a proprietary, locally-based, bloated, locked down, p.o.s. operating system with the need for constant and inefficiently targeted updates. GNU/Linux, among other similar operating system solves many of these problems, but we are bypassing it because we are looking for the quick fix. In the end, how is pledging allegiance to Google on the web any different than pledging allegiance to Microsoft products?


  17. @Eric L.: “I think the current hoopla in “fog” computing is the success of remarketing an old concept (web-based-and-hosted-applications) ”

    Well, good old web hosting plus a couple of new twists. There’s one problem though. Web hosting meant that you outsourced your web site. In most cases, such site contained information/data that was intended to be made public in the first place. So there weren’t many privacy issues involved.

    Now they say that thou shalt keep all your data there. Sounds like a CIA sponsored program to me heh.

    “Windows is the opposite extreme: a proprietary, locally-based, bloated, locked down, p.o.s. operating system with the need for constant and inefficiently targeted updates.”

    The funny thing is most (inhouse win native software) designed for XP still works under Win7. Now try your web based app that was designed for Internet Explorer 6. You’re realize you need IE 6 or it won’t run.

    So exactly the folks that hoped to be “smarter” and become “platform independent” via “web based apps” are now looking into running legacy virtual machines with IE6 or whatever.

    In other words. The Win32 API proved to be more stable than web “standards”.

    Nap.

  18. Anarchist Philantharapist says:

    RE: Eric & “Cloud computing is a joke”
    I have been working with computers since I was 15 which was 16 years ago. I was doing “cloud” computing long before it was the “popular” thing, but i have to agree with Eric. The “cloud” is fine for people as individuals and them wanting to save their pictures on something like facebook, or even some little system not in their home so they don’t loose it when they’re puter dies. But companies will NEVER trust a process like this. They will have backup servers and long term storage systems for data, but never kid yourself, these are dedicated systems doing 1 job, they aren’t “cloud” computing.

    My personal opinion of cloud computing after 16 years, learned how to backup your own data on redundant drives.


  19. “The funny thing is most (inhouse win native software) designed for XP still works under Win7. Now try your web based app that was designed for Internet Explorer 6. You’re realize you need IE 6 or it won’t run.”

    Microsoft are the masters of interoperability. A lot of software which was written for DOS back in the late 80’s will still run under Windows 7. Obviously, not all software is the same. The game “Dungeon Keeper 2” was made for Windows 95/98 and would not run on Windows XP at all. I should try it on W7.

    I’m a database developer not a web developer, but it’s my understanding that Microsoft, doesn’t and never has opted to conform to HTML standards. If you truely need to be compliant, one is best to design for Firefox compatability and validate your sites against W3C.


  20. @IanME: “I’m a database developer not a web developer, but it’s my understanding that Microsoft, doesn’t and never has opted to conform to HTML standards.”

    Two things:

    1. HTML was not designed to be used as a GUI for end user applications. It’s terrible at such. Yet this is what everyone is trying to do with it in “enterprise computing”. Doing app GUI inside a web browser is pretty much like trying to sew a dress with a 4 inch nail and some rope, you may eventually make the pieces hold together, but the result is not efficient or pretty at all.

    2. Web “standards” are moving way much faster than Win32 API or some Unix API/X-Windows. If you’re trying to avoid “obsolescence”, this is not exactly the best way.

    But hey, let the corporate guys have their way, it creates more work for “starving programmers” lol.

    Nap.


  21. @Nap: “Doing app GUI inside a web browser is pretty much like trying to sew a dress with a 4 inch nail and some rope, you may eventually make the pieces hold together, but the result is not efficient or pretty at all.”

    I was once pulled in to a project for a large Java web application. I was primarily brought on to build back-end processing functions, mathematical processing functions and SQL liraries for reports. While most of my code exists in libraries and internal function I did build a small front end for the reports. What I noticed with this was that it was so much code just to get a field to display on the screen and we never “really” did achieve proper pagination. In hindsight I probably would generate all the reports to PDF rather than HTML if I was doing now.


  22. @Napalm

    “The funny thing is most (inhouse win native software) designed for XP still works under Win7. Now try your web based app that was designed for Internet Explorer 6. You’re realize you need IE 6 or it won’t run.

    So exactly the folks that hoped to be “smarter” and become “platform independent” via “web based apps” are now looking into running legacy virtual machines with IE6 or whatever.

    In other words. The Win32 API proved to be more stable than web “standards”.”

    I would definitely NOT equate IE6 “applications” to web applications in general, nor to web standards. That was a clear case of Microsoft “embracing, extending, and extinguishing” existing web standards. A web application designed in Java or using the true web standards would never have the same problems. What’s funny is that the “ActiveX” IE6 apps were in many cases just Win32 apps.

    And as a basis, the Win32 api is really primitive. As platform for innovation, it sucks.

    @IanME
    “Microsoft are the masters of interoperability. A lot of software which was written for DOS back in the late 80’s will still run under Windows 7. Obviously, not all software is the same. The game “Dungeon Keeper 2″ was made for Windows 95/98 and would not run on Windows XP at all. I should try it on W7.”

    Microsoft is most definitely not anything special when in comes to interoperability. Even MacOS X did a better job with Classic, which involved running a totally different operating system seamlessly with a modern unix system (where Windows hasn’t changed that much). And most older GNU/Linux and other Unix programs will run in modern GNU/Linux. Not to mention that Microsoft interoperability is both simplistic and poorly designed, like the DosVM. It has even got to the point that old Windows apps run better with Wine on Unix. Now that is true interoperability.

  23. RE: Anarchist Philantharapist
    “The “cloud” is fine for people as individuals and them wanting to save their pictures on something like facebook, or even some little system not in their home so they don’t loose it when they’re puter dies. But companies will NEVER trust a process like this. They will have backup servers and long term storage systems for data, but never kid yourself, these are dedicated systems doing 1 job, they aren’t “cloud” computing.”

    I definitely agree in regards to the business environment, but I would go farther and say that cloud computing is inadequate for home users as well. Even Facebook is problematic. You are running an application on their server that you can’t examine, uploading data to their servers out of their control, and to top it all off it’s completely proprietary. A P2P solution would help a bit.


  24. @Eric: “Even Facebook is problematic.”

    This is the understatement of the day. Their business model is to collect and sell personal information. Need I say more.

    nap.