What will Cloud Culture be like? Who will own the cloud? How can we keep it open? And how can it empower the world’s poorest people?  - Charles Leadbeater

There isn't much to distinguish between the Internet and the computing cloud these days unless you're still too caught up with the definitions.  Much of the question about the pros and cons of the web have sparked new debate relative to the coming rule of the clouds.  Truly, cloud computing has transitioned from being a  question of why, to a question of 'whose cloud?'.

As Charles Leadbetter writes:
Cloud computing is bringing with it “cloud capitalism”. Companies will make money from organising these clouds for us. Apple already is, with its iTunes cloud of music and its cloud of thousands of third-party apps to run on the iPhone. Cloud computing will also bring a kind of cloud culture: increasingly, we will express ourselves through these clouds of films, videos, pictures, books, stories and music.

He adds:
But cloud capitalism and cloud culture will not always be in harmony. The best way to understand the coming conflicts over the cloud is to look at the issues already being raised by some of the earliest applications. China, where Google is belatedly standing up for the principles of a cloud free from government interference, is the most immediate example.

Obstacles will come in various forms in the road ahead - commercial disputes, growing fear of “uncontrolled, autocratic concentration of power in a single corporate entity”, and perceived threats to national culture, security and dominance.  This is the price we shall pay for the "huge liberation of human creativity and communication" that cloud computing now affords us.  However, there is still opportune time for the 'netizens' to defend the cloud and prevent the continued encroachment coming from both corporations and governments - assaults  that all stem from vested interests.

Unsurprisingly,  there is one word that will help safeguard this promise of unprecedented collaboration in the digital landscape, and that word is OPEN.  But it will take vigilance, and thankfully there are guideposts like the five points towards an Open Cloud Declaration, which help us get started on our way.