Pay-as-you-go with Bitcoin or another digital currency.
Amazon won a patent for allowing customers to pay for cloud services with Bitcoin or other digital currency, opening the door for anonymous, pay-as-you-go cloud computing, according to a report.
Patent 8,719,131, filed March 21, covers a system for paying for computing resources in a multi-tenant environment. Resources could be allocated anonymously -- not be associated with a specific user account, according to CoinDesk, a digital currency news site. Users would submit the payment as part of the request for resources. (See Amazon Awarded Bitcoin-Related Cloud Computing Patent.)
Speed is essential, for example, as a user might request access to a server for just two hours and pay for it digitally.
The patent could be described as enabling an "à la carte" approach to cloud computing -- take what you need for as long as you need it, with no subscription or long-term obligation, no need to plan ahead.
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), which runs the largest cloud service in the world, isn't presently interested in digital currencies; payments head Tom Taylor said in April the company has no immediate plans to "engage Bitcoin," CoinDesk says.
The only uses I can think of for this service are illegal. That's not necessarily a bad thing; illegal services include both malware (bad) and anonymous communications hidden from the prying eyes of dictatorships (good).
In other Bitcoin news, Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH) announced today it will start accepting Bitcoin payment. (See Dish Says Yes to Bitcoin.)
— Mitch Wagner, , West Coast Bureau Chief, Light Reading. Got a tip about SDN or NFV? Send it to [email protected].
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