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Microsoft, without much ado, has banned the mining of cryptocurrencies using its cloud services, the company published the updated version of the Universal License Terms for Online Services.
As The Register reports, certain exceptions are planned yet. Changes to the terms of the universal license for online services came into force on December 1 and mainly concern services provided under corporate licensing.
The changes mainly concern the terms of use of the Azure cloud service. The brief summary states that crypto-mining is prohibited without prior approval from Microsoft. In particular, it is noted that neither the client nor its clients can engage in cryptocurrency mining. Otherwise, the written permission of the cloud service provider is required regardless of the terms of the subscription.
Cloud service providers Digital Ocean, Google Cloud, Oracle and OVH have already introduced such bans. Amazon Web Services prohibits mining if it is done within the framework of the free package.
As reported by Microsoft, the ban on mining was introduced in order to avoid the possible risks of disruption or even shutdown of online services, as well as possible illegal activities, from fraud to illegal use of user resources. All changes, according to Microsoft, are aimed at protecting customers and reducing the risk of disruptions to the company's services. Besides, the company itself will decide to approve or reject applications for mining for tests and research in the field of cyber security. According to The Register, Microsoft has already blocked some accounts for mining.
Experts say it's unclear why Microsoft and other cloud service providers are imposing such restrictions. Concerns about potential customer insolvency due to recent market fluctuations, as well as reports that Azure does not have enough computing power, are cited as hypotheses. It is possible that Microsoft is simply looking for more "stable" customers, for which it is now releasing infrastructure.
According to Statista.com in 2022, Amazon Web Services has the largest share of the global cloud services market with 34%. Microsoft Azure occupies 21 percent of the market, and Google Cloud ranks third with an 11 percent share. The fourth and fifth places are occupied by Alibaba Cloud and IBM Cloud with 5% and 3% shares, respectively.
