Legal Storms Forecast for Cloud Computing.

Session Date & Time Day 1, March 23, 15.15pm EST (12.15pm West Coast) - (45min).
Keywords: Legal.
Authors: Cheree McAlpine, General Counsel at Wyse Technology.
Abstract: Cloud computing has the potential to revolutionize how we invent, develop, deploy, scale, update, maintain and pay for data, applications and the infrastructure on which they run. This emerging field is poised for significant growth in 2010 and beyond. Many enterprises are now incorporating cloud computing into their core business operations. However, a highly optimized public cloud presents a variety of legal risks that companies must consider before deployment.

This presentation will discuss the legal risk associated with cloud computing, as well as strategies and techniques legal counsels can employ to minimize and mitigate risks as companies migrate to the cloud.

This panel will be hosted by attorneys whom represent leading companies in the cloud computing industry. Cheree McAlpine, General Counsel of Wyse Technology, will lead the panel and secure co-panelists from other leading companies, such as Google and VMWare.

The “nationless state” of the public cloud creates risk because of the uncertainty over where sensitive data and applications physically reside. This could include jurisdictions where laws governing the protection and availability of data are significantly different than what companies are accustomed to. Further, because of the virtual and dynamic nature of cloud computing architecture, information in the cloud can be widely distributed and frequently moved across many legal and international jurisdictions; each with different laws regarding security, privacy, data theft, data loss and intellectual property.

Privacy, ownership of data and access to data issues all provide significant questions when operating within the cloud. While there is scant national or international legal precedents for this emerging field, companies must ensure that they have immediate access to their information and that their service provider has appropriate back-up and data retrieval procedures.

The legal framework of cloud computing will also result in a new paradigm of licensing, where traditional software license agreements will be replaced with cloud service agreements. As a result, lawyers representing cloud computing service providers will seek to reduce the liability of their clients by proposing contracts where the service is provided “as is” with no warranty. This means that the service is provided without any assurance or promise of a specific level of performance. This additional risk must be evaluated and considered in the context of the benefits derived from the cloud and the proposed data that will be stored in the cloud.

Finally, cloud computing also poses hurdles for companies in meeting increasingly stringent compliance and reporting requirements for the management of their data.

All of these issues pose significant risks in protecting a company’s sensitive data as well as the information assets that their customers have entrusted them to protect. Companies must conduct appropriate due diligence to ensure that their cloud service providers specify where their data resides, the legal framework within those jurisdictions, and the security, backup, anti-hacking and anti-viral processes the service provider has in place the protect the data.
There are tremendous benefits to cloud computing. Companies should not be afraid to take advantage of the optimization, scalability and cost savings that cloud computing offers, but cloud computing also requires a detailed and unique assessment of risks and legal analysis than traditional IT services and Internet computing.
This presentation will focus on legal strategies that enterprises can employ, as well as changes they can make in their core business operations, in order to mitigate the risks associated with cloud computing and to harness the benefits of migration to the cloud.

Lead Panelist Bio:

Ms. Cheree McAlpine is the General Counsel at Wyse Technology and a 15-year veteran of the Silicon Valley legal community. As General Counsel, Cheree McAlpine is responsible for the worldwide legal affairs of Wyse, as well as advising the company's executive management on strategic and corporate governance matters. As Wyse continues to pioneer new cloud computing solutions, Ms. McAlpine is often charting new legal ground in this emerging field.

Ms. McAlpine also brings significant experience to Wyse. Prior to joining Wyse in 2005, Cheree was with Sun Microsystems. Earlier in her career, Cheree was an associate with Graham and James, LLP and McCutchen Doyle Brown and Enernsen, LLP., concentrating on Intellectual Property Transactions and Licensing.

Ms. McAlpine holds her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and is a member of the American Corporate Counsel Association, American Bar Association, National Bar Association, California Bar, American Intellectual Property Law Association, Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the California Minority Counsel Association.