Isn't this a violation of MS's EULA?
License: http://www.microsoft.com/web/webpi/eula/windows_runtime_ocr_...
"ADDITIONAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND/OR USE RIGHTS."
Which defines how you can use it in non-development and testing purposes.
Of course, the following clause is just as damning:
"iii. Distribution Restrictions. You may not"
"distribute Distributable Code to run on a platform other than the Windows Store or Windows Phone;"
The good news: In Win 10 the separate library is gone and the OCR feature is a regular part of Windows (Windows.Media.Ocr namespace). Along with this, the separate OCR runtime license is gone. -> I could not find any hint that the new OcrEngine class (or Windows Store apps in general!) have similar "no server use" restrictions -> I will move the OCR app to a Win 10 platform asap.
And while I can not speak for Microsoft, I have good reasons to assume that the ocr api service is doing Microsoft a favor by advertising the great Win 10 OCR features. My web service allows for quick prototyping and testing on any platform. But ultimately no web api can be as responsive as a native OCR solution - which is only available on the Windows platform.
I would not be surprised if the OCR engine shows up in Windows Server 2016, directly usable from ASP.NET.
If not, who cares what an EULA says, it's not a contract.