Microsoft has quietly banned cryptocurrency mining from its online services, and says it did so to protect all customers of its clouds. From a report: The Windows and Azure titan slipped the prohibition into an update of its Universal License Terms for Online Services that came into effect on December 1. That document covers any “Microsoft-hosted service to which Customer subscribes under a Microsoft volume licensing agreement,” and on The Register’s reading, mostly concerns itself with Azure.
Microsoft’s Summary of Changes to the license states: “Updated Acceptable Use Policy to clarify that mining cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval.” Within the license itself there’s hardly any more info. A section headed “Acceptable Use Policy” states: “Neither Customer, nor those that access an Online Service through Customer, may use an Online Service: to mine cryptocurrency without Microsoft’s prior written approval.”
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