Amazon Cloud Drive: True Grit

By now we assume that most of our readers have heard about Amazon’s newly released ‘cloud streaming’ service, which allows for 5GB of free online storage and access to the ‘locker’ via smartphones, computers and other devices.  What our readers may not have heard about quite yet is the feedback from users about the service.

In today’s posting, we’ll take our readers through the ‘true grit’ of the thousands of users responses to this new service, as well as some of the milestones passed and hurdles coming up for Amazon.

The Good

First of all, 5GB of free storage space online will solve a lot of users’ needs.  Purchase an MP3 album from Amazon.com and your account will be automatically upgraded to a 20GB locker for storing essentially every type of media file.

Does the term EC2 mean anything to our readers?  If not, here’s the skinny:  EC2 is an elastic model of cloud computing and server expansion based on traffic spikes, aka the full spectrum of (often unforeseen) user demand.

The Bad

With many free services, there are drawbacks.  Most notably for Amazon Cloud Drive there are a couple which merit bringing to light.  First, there are no direct download links/availability for files hosted on Amazon Cloud Drive.

Second, if users require more space beyond the 20GB included after purchase of an MP3 album, there is an acute price jump.

Third, we can forget about ‘backup’ options.  If the files are gone, they’re gone.

Lastly, and most importantly, there are no security or privacy guarantees.  Not that anyone wants to gain access to your online MP3 library (unless you’ve got an uncanny knack for being ahead of the music curve), but for secure documents or sensitive data this could be a major determining factor.

The Ugly

Remember Napster?  How about Limewire?  If either of these names ring a bell, our readers will probably also remember the lawsuits associated with these companies and their users who were slapped with severe fines for sharing digital music online.

Sony was the first major label to speak up against Amazon’s Cloud Drive in stating that, “We are disappointed that the locker service that Amazon is proposing is unlicensed by Sony Music, and we hope that Amazon will resolve the situation quickly by agreeing to a license with us. We are keeping all our legal options open.”

What does this mean?  It means that Sony has a bunch of lawyers that they could easily pit against Amazon.  It also means that the laws which the music industry is currently based on were written in the 1970’s … way before the mass popularization of the internet and digital music.

Where does this leave Amazon?  Ahead of Google and Apple in the cloud-based locker/streaming service.  For how long?  Only time will tell.

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Coming up next … Amazon Cloud Drive alternatives!