Where Does the Cloud Hang Over?

The chapter examines the operation of cloud technologies within the system of international investment law. It analyses the operation of cloud technologies themselves within the system of international investment law and the interaction between the regulation of cloud technologies and international investment protective standards. The common element in each analysis is the existence, inexistence, and eventually forceful existence of territorial nexus between the ‘cloud’ and the national jurisdictions. Amidst the increased regulatory interference, the chapter focuses on localization requirements and forced localizations as a medium through which fundamental territorial and extra-territorial implications of international investment law are assessed. In essence, it constitutes a crash test on the capacity of existing international investment norms to protect and regulate assets and investments that are inherently detached from traditional views of territorial jurisdiction or tangible property rights.