It also updated its App Engine hosting service with PHP runtime, calling it "the most requested feature, " and launched Google Cloud Datastore to go up against AWS' cloud storage services.

ENGADGET

Designing and implementing shared IT services involves moving existing and new services to the cloud (both government or commercial hosting) to increase service elasticity, reduce system equipment footprints, free IT organizations from the expensive work of data center storage, maintenance, backup and recovery burdens.

FORBES: From CIA to OMB, Federal Government Gets Serious About Cloud

As for enforcement of this potential government mandate, the dossier posits that it could lean on internet service providers instead of hosting services, which according to EU law, can't be forced to conduct widespread surveillance.

ENGADGET

About five years ago, Rackspace introduced a higher level of service, Intensive Proactive Managed Support, with more outsourced IT functionality an alternative to its basic Managed Online Demand hosting service.

FORBES: Rackspace: Bull and Bear Cases Revisited

They must sell public cloud compute IaaS as a stand-alone service, without the requirement to bundle it with managed hosting, application development, application maintenance or other outsourcing.

FORBES: Connect

Spamhaus accused Cyberbunker, a Dutch Web-hosting company, of coordinating the so-called distributed denial-of-service attack against it, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corp.

WSJ: Cyberattack on Spam Fighter Said to Be Over

Amazon, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and Western Union have all cut their services to the secret-spilling group in early 2011. ( Update : Amazon, for its part, claims that it was not influenced by Lieberman, but rather decided independently that WikiLeaks violated its terms of service.) Swedish hosting companies PRQ and Bahnhof, by contrast, have both continued to serve WikiLeaks at the height of its controversy without threats from the Swedish government.

FORBES: Why Julian Assange Might Be Better Off In Sweden