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[Poetic.Injustice]

Torrent Freak reported the news over the weekend. It noted that many TPB users recently noticed that their CPU usage spiked dramatically when visiting certain pages on the site. Upon closer examination, it was discovered that an embedded digital coin miner was to blame.

It is not clear how long this has been going on, though TPB has since admitted to using the miner, calling it a test run that could replace ads.

"As you may have noticed we are testing a Monero Javascript miner. This is only a test. We really want to get rid of all the ads. But we also need enough money to keep the site running," TPB stated in a blog post.

TPB also blamed the high CPU usage on a "small typo" that was causing its site to utilize every available cycle when a user visited its website. That has since been corrected, and TPB says CPU utilization should now be between 20-30 percent. The embedded miner is also restricted to run in a single tab even if multiple tabs are open.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-pirate-bay-is-piggybacking-on-visitors-cpus-to-mine-cryptocurrency/

 

[collige]

Honestly, I think running a crypto miner in place of ads is a pretty awesome idea, but it should absolutely be opt in and well explained that it'll eat your cpu.

 

[NinjaMouse]

Yeah, I’m not condoning the site at all, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find this idea to be absolutely genius.

 

[Keyser Soze]

A more shady version of Folding@home that in the future find some less shady uses.

 

[gdt]

Fuck me what an idea.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Yo ho me hearties yo ho

 

[Chezzymann]

Id be okay with it if they let you know and you could opt out

 

[HTupolev]

That's actually kind of amazing.

 

[Plumbob]

So long as it's transparent go for it.

 

[Buzzman]

The reason nobody likes ads is because they're often intrusive, can contain malware, and slow down your computer. Now you've just cut out the middleman? Not seeing the benefit here.

 

[Ashby]

Hell, if it was a site I visited frequently and was a fan of I would rather put money in their pockets directly instead of being forced to look at a page chock full of ads.

 

[The Wart]

I would 100% take this over ads.

 

[cameron]

Ugh, I didn't know Javascript miners were a thing.

Rogue ads on regular websites are going to be more annoying.

 

[Akuun]

Yeah, that's pretty clever and I'm surprised no one thought of it until now.

I wouldn't mind if it was placed front and center and asked the user to opt in/opt out, but trying to do it without permission is pretty shady.

Depending on the site, I wouldn't mind opting for this over watching ads.

 

[CalamityPixel]

That's a great idea if it's opt in and out. Better than ads.

 

[TrounceX]

That is actually a fascinating idea.

 

[Mimosa97]

As long as there's no malware involved and no privacy breach then i'm okay with this. It's a great idea.

 

[PAULINK]

how are you guys ok with this, I need all of my cpu

 

[Dazza]

I thought piratebay had died?

 

[KHarvey16]

Done openly and explicitly I'm definitely ok with this. I think the possibilities are actually pretty great.

 

[ahoyhoy]

I thought piratebay had died?

What is dead may never die.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Are y'all serious or just stupid? Why would you ever be okay with hidden miners in ads?

how are you guys ok with this, I need all of my cpu

 

[cryptosporidium]

Can comeone give me an eli5 on this, I thought every home computer had one long code in it that could be considered as a cryptocurrency. is this not true, im not a tech person at all

 

[WaterAstro]

how are you guys ok with this, I need all of my cpu

Just torrent more CPU like how you can download RAM.

 

[reelbigtink]

how are you guys ok with this, I need all of my cpu

It only mines when you're visiting thepiratebay right? That seems better than popups that bog your computer down.

 

[99Luffy]

Does adblock block this?

Although if I dont notice it then Im fine with it. rip tehparadox

 

[Newlove]

So I'm a bit ignorant of mining. How do they make money from using CPU power?

 

[gamma]

Does adblock block this?

Don't think so, you would need something like NoScript.

 

[lukeskymac]

The reason nobody likes ads is because they're often intrusive, can contain malware, and slow down your computer. Now you've just cut out the middleman? Not seeing the benefit here.

What?

 

[Draper]

Fine with me

 

[Geist-]

It's not a terrible idea, but if this becomes widespread say goodbye to keeping multiple tabs open. Chrome is already a resource hog, I can't imagine how bad it will get when websites start using mining in place of ads.

 

[chaosblade]

I think the problem with this as a replacement for ads is handling a bunch of tabs. TPB can have their own pages only run one instance of the miner, but what if you have a dozen different sites in different tabs, all wanting a chunk of your CPU cycles to mine.

If it was implemented at a browser level it would probably work better, so it could be limited to just the active tab in the active window.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

Does adblock block this?

Although if I dont notice it then Im fine with it. rip tehparadox

Don't think so, you would need something like NoScript.

In this case, TPB is upfront that a volunteering CPU cycles on its site can be blocked by a normal ad blocker.

.

 

[curiouscharles]

What is dead may never die.

But rises again, harder and stronger.

 

[Technosteve]

so like what can't you do with javascript?

 

[Mr.Mike]

so like what can't you do with javascript?

What should you do with javascript?

 

[PulseONE]

Sounds acceptable compared to ads

It's not like one spends more than just a few minutes on it anyway

 

[dickroach]

last night my laptop fan starting humming real loud, and my computer got hot, then i went into task manager and saw my CPU was at like 98% for some reason

after I closed out of a bunch of chrome tabs I wasn't using my CPU% went down to normal. one of those tabs was TPB.
can confirm

 

[OdysseusVA]

Does adblock block this?

Although if I dont notice it then Im fine with it. rip tehparadox

Yes
https://thepiratebay.org/blog/242

Of course the mining can be blocked by a normal ad-blocker.

 

[OmegaFax]

Does this affect mobile more than desktop in terms of CPU usage? Also, I agree there should be a full disclosure/opt-in. It's a slippery slope when things start running in scripts without you knowing.

 

[Kthulhu]

Honestly, I think running a crypto miner in place of ads is a pretty awesome idea, but it should absolutely be opt in and well explained that it'll eat your cpu.

Yeah. It's certainly am interesting alternative to advertisements.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

so like what can't you do with javascript?

Spread Russian butt cheeks.

Does adblock block this?

Although if I dont notice it then Im fine with it. rip tehparadox

Don't think so, you would need something like NoScript.

You can block any file you want with an ad blocker.

 

[Kayhan]

TPB also blamed the high CPU usage on a "small typo" that was causing its site to utilize every available cycle when a user visited its website.

lol busted

 

[MikeHattsu]

I think the problem with this as a replacement for ads is handling a bunch of tabs. TPB can have their own pages only run one instance of the miner, but what if you have a dozen different sites in different tabs, all wanting a chunk of your CPU cycles to mine.

Yeah, if this becomes popular then it'll be horrible

 

[Slayer-33]

Does this affect mobile more than desktop in terms of CPU usage? Also, I agree there should be a full disclosure/opt-in. It's a slippery slope when things start running in scripts without you knowing.

https://brave.com/

They updated the browser to block this stuff.

Peeps should check it out.. lol earn some BAT crypto soon enough.

Really like the mobile brave browser

 

[Kayhan]

last night my laptop fan starting humming real loud, and my computer got hot, then i went into task manager and saw my CPU was at like 98% for some reason

after I closed out of a bunch of chrome tabs I wasn't using my CPU% went down to normal. one of those tabs was TPB.
can confirm

wh..why did you go to TPB.....?

 

[Slayer-33]

wh..why did you go to TPB.....?

Bwahahaha

 

[KojiKnight]

This could be an interesting way in the future for websites to get paid without ads... But obviously it needs to be optin.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Yeah. It's certainly am interesting alternative to advertisements.

How is this at all an interesting alternative to ads? Ads at least bombard you with marketing based on your information, but this is taking your resources in order to profit off of you. If anything this is worse, especially considering human nature means people will look for shady ways to get this done regardless of opt-in clauses bc give an inch = take a mile.

Never in my wildest dreams would I ever see people being okay with someone using their technology and resources to profit off of them. Talk about literally fucking them over.

 

[Akuun]

So I'm a bit ignorant of mining. How do they make money from using CPU power?

Super layman's (and probably not entirely accurate) explanation:

Most cryptocurrency mining involves number crunching a "mining block" made of calculations that are hard for computers to solve. The mining block is there purely to stop people from immediately declaring that they have infinite amounts of money in that currency. It's just an obstacle that people have to dedicate computer power to work through in order to make money in that currency.

Each part of the mining block involves using computer number crunching to find a certain hidden solution, and whoever finds that solution first is rewarded X amount of cryptocurrency. Once that solution's found, that part of the block is considered solved, and all computers who are mining move on to mine the next part of the block to find whatever solution's in that part of the block. Repeat infinitely (or pretty much infinitely, for all practical purposes).