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perhaps they are trying to counteract the inevitable backlash from the wikileaks story?

Somehow I doubt they had this plan "on standby" in case of some controversy.

On topic - This combined with the free year of a micro instance will allow you to put a proof of concept together for only the cost of your time.

Strictly speaking, the monitoring isn't essential to put a proof of concept together. It's nice, yes, but not essential.