April 3 I discussed cloud computing and how it was being touted as a possible “silver bullet” for the video game industry.

Before writing, I had spoken with several game developers at a conference in San Francisco about how cloud platforms would enable them to rent their games online instead of selling them at stores.

Cloud computing uses the Internet; users access data and software stored in remote servers. The idea is to no longer keep software on our computers, but instead to access it from “the cloud.” The game developers with whom I spoke were intrigued. They hope that, if gamers were to rent games off the cloud instead of buying, there would be fewer opportunities for scofflaws to copy software.

Several months later, I’m still excited about the evolution of cloud computing. Cloud will change the way we process and share data and will open opportunities for all of us.

Except that now that I am a bit more informed about cloud, I am starting to see some downsides, especially when it comes to intellectual property theft. An article I recently read confirms my worries. The San Jose Mercury News published a piece written by Brandon Bailey and aptly titled “Cloud Computing May Create New Venues for High-Tech Criminals.” Bailey was informed by a top U.S. federal technology prosecutor that in fact we do need to be wary: “As businesses shift more of their operations online, they may create more opportunities for hackers or other crooks to steal IP,” Bailey writes.

Part of the reason why is that globalization has provided opportunities to crooks. Digital criminals can operate anywhere in the world, and they tend to locate in places where they can avoid the prying eyes of legitimate businesses and governments. When they get a hold of intellectual property, they can turn their theft into huge profits — profits that seriously hurt the bottom lines of the honest people who create software and content. While organized crime syndicates already operate boldly, hawking their bootleg wares on the streets of cities around the world, cloud computing can give them a much larger arena in which to conduct their illicit activities. They could potentially sell their stolen products to tens of thousands of people faster via the Internet then they could through street vendors.

Will cloud computing further escalate the problems of intellectual property protection?

Despite that troubling question, I look forward to seeing the good that cloud might bring. If companies create a strong game plan – excuse the pun – against criminal hackers to safeguard their interests, it may be an intellectual property win in the long run. It will at least immediately put a stop to the less-nefarious type of copying – that done by a student for a friend, for instance.

To stop the big-time crooks, we’ll need serious thought from company engineers to top executives…and from lawyers, lots of lawyers. To protect the cloud, governments will also need to be on top of this issue. Because cloud is coming … quickly.