A number of the science fiction books on my shelf view the earth as having a single government. Countries no longer exist. Of course, we have still have countries. In fact, if anything, we have more countries today than we did thirty years ago. However, the Internet has reduced the impact of borders. The presence of global trade and other globe girdling changes have reduce the impact of borders even more. Still, countries exist partly because tradition demands it and partly because different groups have their own ideas of what a country should look like.
Most of my book shy away from any sort of legal discussion, mostly because I’m not a lawyer, but also the discussion of technology doesn’t apply to any particular country or its laws. When readers write to me, it doesn’t matter what country the reader is from, I can usually answer the question in precisely the same way. Variables work the same in Germany as they do in Spain, Japan, and America. It doesn’t mean that I’m unaware of potential legal issues surrounding technology. For example, I’ve written about privacy (or the lack thereof) a number of times.
Legal requirements, privacy needs, and the problems with borders are about to become more and more important because of one current technology and likely a host of others at some point. Storing data in the cloud means that users could create a situation where even the smallest company is in for a nasty surprise should the user work with data in other countries. Actually, the mere storage of data in the cloud could cause problems. Let’s say that the user in America chooses a storage facility in Mexico because it provides the least expensive service. Theoretically, the user’s data is subject to the laws of both Mexico (because that’s where the data is located) and America (because that’s where the user is located). If the user then travels to another country, such as Iraq, the data becomes subject (at least in theory) to the laws of Iraq as well.
In reading the views of several industry pundits on the topic, I can see where the legal issues could become quite vexing indeed—taxing even the best lawyer’s ability to untie the Gordian knot of legal consequences. So far, I can’t find anyone really trying to apply these multiple jurisdictions to a single user’s data, but I imagine it’s only a matter of time. As more and more technologies become global, however, and we begin to explore the stars with a greater sense of urgency, I begin to wonder just how long countries will continue to exist. It makes me wonder whether there will be a point at which the legal burden alone will make it a lot easier to have a single set of laws worldwide.
A number of people I’ve approached on the topic have presented perfectly valid arguments against a one world government. The most reasonable argument is that administering a single country is hard—trying to administer the entire world from a single place might well prove impossible. Still, I see more and more arguments about this whole issue of legal requirements, porous borders, global economies, and the like and it does make me wonder.
How do you feel about the legal issues regarding cloud computing? Is this simply the beginning of a much larger trend where legal requirements start to eat away at the need for countries? Does our future really involve a single world government? Let me know your thoughts on the issue at [email protected].