Microsoft bans crypto mining using its online services
(2022/12/15)
- Reference: 1671079447
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/15/microsoft_online_services_cryptomining_ban/
- Source link:
Microsoft has quietly banned mining for cryptocurrency using its online services.
The software and cloud giant 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 [1]Summary of Changes to the License states: "Updated Acceptable Use Policy to clarify that mining cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval."
[2]
Within the License itself there's hardly any more info.
[3]
[4]
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."
Microsoft appears not to have publicized this decision beyond the Summary of Changes page and, in recent hours, in an [5]advisory to partners titled "Important actions partners need to take to secure the partner ecosystem" That document states "The Acceptable Use Policy has been updated to explicitly prohibit mining for cryptocurrencies across all Microsoft Online Services unless written pre-approval is granted by Microsoft" and adds "We suggest seeking written pre-approval from Microsoft before using Microsoft Online Services for mining cryptocurrencies, regardless of the term of a subscription."
[6]
We've asked Microsoft why it implemented the ban and under what circumstances, if any, it would issue written permission to mine crypto. We'll update this story if we receive a substantive response.
[7]FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried charged with fraud by just about everyone
[8]Microsoft hikes prices in India by up to eleven percent
[9]Can confidential computing stop the next crypto heist?
[10]Digital Ocean customers back away from blockchains
Microsoft is not alone in banning crypto mining without permission. Google Cloud [11]forbids it (see clause 3.3) as does [12]Oracle [PDF, see clause 1.3] and [13]OVH . Digital Ocean also [14]requires written permission .
Amazon Web Services does not allow it in its [15]free tier . Microsoft has done likewise for some time, and barred student accounts from mining activities.
But there hasn't been such a blanket proscription before. So why now?
At a guess, Microsoft is worried that miners won't pay their cloud bills.
[16]
With the crypto sector beset by scandal and the values of many tokens well below historical highs, miners' positions may be … let's say precarious. That Microsoft has reminded partners not to allow crypto mining supports this hypothesis because Microsoft does not deal directly with most customers. If anyone knows Azure-using crypto miners, it's the partners who signed them up.
The Register also often hears whispers of Azure capacity shortages. Maybe Microsoft is trying to slough off the crypto sector and find more stable customers for the infrastructure it has spare?
We've a theory on the need for permission, too: some crypto mining is done with computationally expensive proof of work techniques, while others use the less demanding proof of stake method.
Microsoft may be happy to host proof of stake operations, but unwilling to offer services to proof of work outfits.
Hopefully the company explains itself. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/en-US/product/changes/MCA
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.microsoftpartnercommunity.com/t5/Azure-Solution-Area/Important-actions-partners-need-to-take-to-secure-the-partner/td-p/82850
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/13/ftx_sam_bankman_fried_charged/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/04/microsoft_india_price_rises/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/07/confidential_computing_crypto_heists/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/09/digital_ocean_q2_2022/
[11] https://cloud.google.com/terms
[12] https://www.oracle.com/au/a/ocom/docs/corporate/cloud-csa-us-eng-v040119.pdf
[13] https://us.ovhcloud.com/legal/terms-of-service
[14] https://www.digitalocean.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy
[15] https://aws.amazon.com/free/terms/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The software and cloud giant 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 [1]Summary of Changes to the License states: "Updated Acceptable Use Policy to clarify that mining cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval."
[2]
Within the License itself there's hardly any more info.
[3]
[4]
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."
Microsoft appears not to have publicized this decision beyond the Summary of Changes page and, in recent hours, in an [5]advisory to partners titled "Important actions partners need to take to secure the partner ecosystem" That document states "The Acceptable Use Policy has been updated to explicitly prohibit mining for cryptocurrencies across all Microsoft Online Services unless written pre-approval is granted by Microsoft" and adds "We suggest seeking written pre-approval from Microsoft before using Microsoft Online Services for mining cryptocurrencies, regardless of the term of a subscription."
[6]
We've asked Microsoft why it implemented the ban and under what circumstances, if any, it would issue written permission to mine crypto. We'll update this story if we receive a substantive response.
[7]FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried charged with fraud by just about everyone
[8]Microsoft hikes prices in India by up to eleven percent
[9]Can confidential computing stop the next crypto heist?
[10]Digital Ocean customers back away from blockchains
Microsoft is not alone in banning crypto mining without permission. Google Cloud [11]forbids it (see clause 3.3) as does [12]Oracle [PDF, see clause 1.3] and [13]OVH . Digital Ocean also [14]requires written permission .
Amazon Web Services does not allow it in its [15]free tier . Microsoft has done likewise for some time, and barred student accounts from mining activities.
But there hasn't been such a blanket proscription before. So why now?
At a guess, Microsoft is worried that miners won't pay their cloud bills.
[16]
With the crypto sector beset by scandal and the values of many tokens well below historical highs, miners' positions may be … let's say precarious. That Microsoft has reminded partners not to allow crypto mining supports this hypothesis because Microsoft does not deal directly with most customers. If anyone knows Azure-using crypto miners, it's the partners who signed them up.
The Register also often hears whispers of Azure capacity shortages. Maybe Microsoft is trying to slough off the crypto sector and find more stable customers for the infrastructure it has spare?
We've a theory on the need for permission, too: some crypto mining is done with computationally expensive proof of work techniques, while others use the less demanding proof of stake method.
Microsoft may be happy to host proof of stake operations, but unwilling to offer services to proof of work outfits.
Hopefully the company explains itself. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/en-US/product/changes/MCA
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.microsoftpartnercommunity.com/t5/Azure-Solution-Area/Important-actions-partners-need-to-take-to-secure-the-partner/td-p/82850
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/13/ftx_sam_bankman_fried_charged/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/04/microsoft_india_price_rises/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/07/confidential_computing_crypto_heists/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/09/digital_ocean_q2_2022/
[11] https://cloud.google.com/terms
[12] https://www.oracle.com/au/a/ocom/docs/corporate/cloud-csa-us-eng-v040119.pdf
[13] https://us.ovhcloud.com/legal/terms-of-service
[14] https://www.digitalocean.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy
[15] https://aws.amazon.com/free/terms/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5qp8cf7eY9qQSf0EZB8jQAAAJc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/