limits of liability Archives

Contracting for a cloud computing deal?

Cloud computing is on the mind of many CIO’s these days. Its also on the mind of lawyers. Lawyers know contracting for cloud services can be difficult given the potential risks associated with these services. For regulated entities like Canadian financial institutions, a material public cloud transaction also poses serious OSFI compliance challenges. The standard form contracts of many cloud providers also contributes to the difficulties. For a survey of these terms, see Simon Bradshaw et al Contracts for Clouds: Comparison and Analysis of the Terms and Conditions of Cloud Computing Services.…

IT lawyers know all too well that IT contracts can go awry. That is why so much time is spent arguing about limits of liability during contract negotiations. A recent example is the BSkyb Ltd & Anor v HP Enterprise Services UK Ltd & Anor (Rev 1) [2010] EWHC 86 (TCC) (26 January 2010) case where the UK court made a huge damage award against HP.

The Supreme Court had considered on several previous occasions the effect of a fundamental breach on limitations of liability terms.…