I was about to post this, but you wrote a much better text 
Mining with hardware that is tied to a central platform defeats the whole purpose of mining.
Mining with hardware that is tied to a central platform defeats the whole purpose of mining.Thanks, but I see that while I wrote my lengthy post, and I had a break do deal with some issues in meat space, this thread exploded with posts, and I see the OP stated that there would not be a centralized control server, but rather a token that would allow mining for a certain number of blocks.
That's too a really bad idea if you ask me. If the company can deliver what it promises, then just sell it as it is, with no restrictions.