23
click-wrap contracts are standardised wholly electronic contracts giving
the clients little or no opportunity to negotiate specific terms and conditions. As such, the vast majority of cloud customers need to balance the
tension of the advantages of the cloud against the disadvantages of boilerplate terms and conditions designed by global firms with legal resources
several orders of magnitude greater than even the largest law firms, as well
as the perceived and actual loss of control. In the absence of alternatives,
cloud customers may feel that they have no choice but to rely on these
contracts to eliminate distrust or mitigate the negative impact of a trust
violation, in effect a form of what Lewicki et al. (2006) refer to as calculative trust. Similarly, they may simply agree to the terms and conditions as
an anxiety avoidance mechanism (Weber et al. 2004; van der Werff et al.
2019). Either way, a trust issue arises.
This chapter provides an overview of common terms and conditions in
general form cloud computing click-wrap contracts. To avoid repetition,
we assume the general definitions of trust and cloud computing presented
in Chap. 1. The remainder of the chapter is organised as follows. Following
a brief discussion on the theoretical relationship between trust, contracts
and contract law, the structure of cloud computing contracts is introduced. This is followed by an overview and discussion of the key terms and
conditions in cloud computing contracts and the issues that these present.
Then, we discuss briefly how the nature of cloud computing and contracts
are evolving before concluding with a brief discussion of the trust implications resulting from these issues.
2.2
trust, contracts and contract Law
Trust and distrust are inextricably linked to the moral and legal underpinnings of Anglo-American contract law. The purpose of this chapter is not
to justify trust as a theoretical building block of contract law but rather
outline contractual issues in cloud computing and how these might impact
trust in cloud computing and CSPs. However, understanding the relationship between trust, contracts and contract law, even at a high level, may
provide insights in to the role of cloud computing contracts play in the
relationship between CSPs and their clients. At the core of a contract is a
promise where “a person invites another to trust, and to break a promise
is to abuse that trust” (Bellia Jr 2002, p. 25). But, what is the nature of
this trust? And what is the relationship between trust, contracts, and contract law?
2 DEAR CLOUD, I THINK WE HAVE TRUST ISSUES: CLOUD COMPUTING…
click-wrap contracts are standardised wholly electronic contracts giving
the clients little or no opportunity to negotiate specific terms and conditions. As such, the vast majority of cloud customers need to balance the
tension of the advantages of the cloud against the disadvantages of boilerplate terms and conditions designed by global firms with legal resources
several orders of magnitude greater than even the largest law firms, as well
as the perceived and actual loss of control. In the absence of alternatives,
cloud customers may feel that they have no choice but to rely on these
contracts to eliminate distrust or mitigate the negative impact of a trust
violation, in effect a form of what Lewicki et al. (2006) refer to as calculative trust. Similarly, they may simply agree to the terms and conditions as
an anxiety avoidance mechanism (Weber et al. 2004; van der Werff et al.
2019). Either way, a trust issue arises.
This chapter provides an overview of common terms and conditions in
general form cloud computing click-wrap contracts. To avoid repetition,
we assume the general definitions of trust and cloud computing presented
in Chap. 1. The remainder of the chapter is organised as follows. Following
a brief discussion on the theoretical relationship between trust, contracts
and contract law, the structure of cloud computing contracts is introduced. This is followed by an overview and discussion of the key terms and
conditions in cloud computing contracts and the issues that these present.
Then, we discuss briefly how the nature of cloud computing and contracts
are evolving before concluding with a brief discussion of the trust implications resulting from these issues.
2.2
trust, contracts and contract Law
Trust and distrust are inextricably linked to the moral and legal underpinnings of Anglo-American contract law. The purpose of this chapter is not
to justify trust as a theoretical building block of contract law but rather
outline contractual issues in cloud computing and how these might impact
trust in cloud computing and CSPs. However, understanding the relationship between trust, contracts and contract law, even at a high level, may
provide insights in to the role of cloud computing contracts play in the
relationship between CSPs and their clients. At the core of a contract is a
promise where “a person invites another to trust, and to break a promise
is to abuse that trust” (Bellia Jr 2002, p. 25). But, what is the nature of
this trust? And what is the relationship between trust, contracts, and contract law?
2 DEAR CLOUD, I THINK WE HAVE TRUST ISSUES: CLOUD COMPUTING…