Microsoft updated its Universal License Terms for Online Services at the start of the month to make clear that it now prohibits cryptocurrency mining if you don’t get prior permission. According to The Register, which spotted the change, Microsoft has updated the agreement to help protect all customers that use its cloud.
To get permission to mine using Microsoft’s cloud solutions, the company recommends getting written approval. It didn’t state where you should direct your query, however, and said that it may consider mining for testing and research purposes for security detections.
The change was reportedly introduced because mining can cause disruption and impairment to Microsoft’s online services. The company went on to say that crypto miners “can often be linked to cyber fraud and abuse attacks such as unauthorized access to and use of customer resources.”
Microsoft is not the first company to restrict mining on its cloud network. Oracle and OVH don’t normally allow mining on their networks, Digital Ocean and Google Cloud require written permission, and Amazon Web Services restricts the activity on its free tier. It’s not clear how many crypto miners would have been affected by this change but due to the relatively low price of Bitcoin, mining has become a more difficult business to justify economically.
Source: Microsoft via The Register
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