[NEWS] Pirate Bay mining Monero

[Spoetnik]

https://www.neowin.net/news/the-pirate-bay-hijacks-visitors-cpu-causing-100-spikes-everyone-loses-their-

In a hilarious twist of irony, thepiratebay.se has been caught out "testing" a script that uses the CPU cycles of its visitors to mine cryptocurrecy. Apparently, this is going to replace ads though.

Puttin' mah yeezys's on.. i'm oughta here !



EDIT:

More info..
https://pirates-forum.org/Thread-PIRATE-BAY-OFFICIAL-SITE-MINER?pid=195783#pid195783

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[Tidsdilatation]

They did not get "caught". Try reading about it before posting. https://thepiratebay.org/blog/ . Its a great way to get rid of adds, hope they update specifics and charts.

[James_CanYa]

To be honest this isn't a terrible idea and it was announced on their blog first

Plus 'stealing' CPU power from people 'stealing' content isn't exactly something for everyone to get upset about.

[Herbert2020]

maybe it is just me but i see winter coming to anon coins.

you see one of the biggest concerns of any government in the world has always been illegal and shady activities. pirating is one of the examples. and the more these anon coins are being associated with these illegal activities the bigger the government concern will become. they may even announce any coin with ANON feature as illegal.
of course that won't do much but it will be a start.

[Febo]

To be honest this isn't a terrible idea and it was announced on their blog first

Plus 'stealing' CPU power from people 'stealing' content isn't exactly something for everyone to get upset about.

Monero is solving many problems. Not that was invented for this but it solves it.  That is just how it is with good innovations.

[sunhany]

Didn't know that. So they are trying to get rid of ads and mine coins instead, looks interesting, but does that gives them enough hashing power to mine successfully? Doesn't that makes some low budget PCs run slower?

[Spoetnik]

They did not get "caught". Try reading about it before posting. https://thepiratebay.org/blog/ . Its a great way to get rid of adds, hope they update specifics and charts.

You should learn to read smart ass.. all i did was quote the link / story.
And i don't like the idea either.
That is over stepping the bounds of a web page in my books.

@Herbert2020
I've been saying that for ages about ANON coins.. i've made a LOT of topics touching on the issues you brought up.

All i was doing is relaying the information i found guys.
Make of it what you will.


From my home towns news web site. (mentions Bitcoin)

New tech means new scams

As technology changes the way people live and work, police are warning the public that scammers are also using technology to advance their scams.

Police are seeing a variety of ways criminals are duping unsuspecting people out of their money using phone spoofing technology and bitcoin payments. Typical victims include the elderly and those new to Canada.

Cpl. Scotty Schumann said the Surrey RCMP was recently contacted after a woman sent money to an anonymous account and then realized she had been defrauded. The victim received a phone call that appeared to be coming from her husband’s cell phone. The male caller identified himself as a police officer, and told the victim that her husband had been arrested and bail money was required to secure his release. The fraudster coached the victim into electronically depositing $4,800 into an anonymous account. The woman’s husband came home shortly afterwards and she realized she had been tricked.

“What’s unique in this instance is, the victim was coerced into depositing ‘bitcoin’ into the fraudster’s anonymous account,” Schumann. “Bitcoin, a digital form of currency and payment, is extremely hard to track. We are also seeing fraudsters continuing to impersonate government agencies like the RCMP, Canada Revenue Agency and Canadian Border Services Agency. They often demand payment in the form of gift cards, money transfers or bitcoin so the payment is difficult for law enforcement to track.”

This isn’t the first time that bitcoin, impersonation, or spoofing, calls that appear to be coming from local or familiar numbers to trick people into answering the phone and trusting the caller, have been used.

“Since January of this year, Surrey RCMP has received at least 14 reports where bitcoin was used as the payment form in a fraud. Phone spoofing and impersonation are even more common,” said Schumann.

“One way to protect yourself is by calling the agency back at a number that is publicly known and not one that they are providing to verify the information they are telling you. Also, never provide payment to agencies in the form of gift cards or bitcoin, as government organizations would never ask for payment in these forms.”

ICO = SCAM NOOBS.

[bbc.reporter]

They did not get "caught". Try reading about it before posting. https://thepiratebay.org/blog/ . Its a great way to get rid of adds, hope they update specifics and charts.

They were caught and it is not a great way of getting rid of ads. They also did not ask permission from their users to use their CPU for mining Monero.

If they really only wanted to test it then they should make an announcement and ask their users to volunteer to join.  

[Spoetnik]

@BBC
Agreed and here is another story..
https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-website-runs-a-cryptocurrency-miner-170916

[thangoffshore]

They did not get "caught". Try reading about it before posting. https://thepiratebay.org/blog/ . Its a great way to get rid of adds, hope they update specifics and charts.

They were caught and it is not a great way of getting rid of ads. They also did not ask permission from their users to use their CPU for mining Monero.

If they really only wanted to test it then they should make an announcement and ask their users to volunteer to join.  

Agreed. Some kind of permission should be seek from users directly instead of just a blog post.

I'm not comfortable with this. IMO many others are also.

[timet678]

Wasn't there an ico recently that was doing the same thing except for their own coin? Honestly seems like a pretty great less intrusive way to replace ads since everyone hates them anyway.

I do understand why some people may not like it but I personally wouldn't mind as long as they are open about it.

[Spoetnik]

I wonder how many people would volunteer to sign up to do it.. permission / knowledge it's happening is key.
Doing it with out any consent is not too classy.
Imagine you show up on random sites now and they 100% max out your CPU.
Ok with that ?

Side Note:
It was TPB + LTC that got me into crypto.. years ago they had a donation address on all pages for both BTC + LTC.

[Jerfer]

heh. This is just as bad as the bittorrent bitcoin miner, and they claimed to give the bitcoin to some "charity"

[Daisuke]

just read this article that piratebay uses the cpu of visitors to mine on cryptocurrency but I dont know that they are mining monero. since piratebay uses their visitor's computer on mining without permission I think it is safe to say that I will never that site again.

[Spoetnik]

heh. This is just as bad as the bittorrent bitcoin miner, and they claimed to give the bitcoin to some "charity"

Yeah i recall something about that too and didn't Utorrent bundle one with them program way back too ?
I am using 2x still.. right now.
AND.. i was just at TPB and they are not doing it right now.
Maybe the bad press across the web has turned them off the idea.

By the way the cocky little TPB mod that banned my account XPMULE years ago can blow me  
That goes for the retarded fag mods at MetalSucks that banned my Disqus account the other day too.
And Neowin.net also..
Ahh well if i name all the places that banned me i'd be here all day HAHAHHA

Hey internet.. kiss my fucking ass pricks LOL    
You all think i give a fuck what people think ?

RECAP:
Disable JS on TPB.. with plugins like Noscript etc.

[Dlugina23]

When i download torrent i mine monero?

[VackFromOhm]

Anyone who was going onto tpb with Javascript enabled is a sucker in the first place, lol. Probably using Chrome too. I'm not sure how I feel about them doing it under our noses, but I might consider it if it's something that you agree to when you go to the site. Dang, now I feel a bit more nervous about those T&A that we never read through.

If they were to completely get rid of ads and require that you give some of your cpu while browsing, it would be interesting. Ads are gross and really take down the quality of the site, plus they're mostly malware anyways. The same danger could apply to mining though too, especially since it's over the browser and there's no way that there aren't going to be a bunch of gaping holes in that connection! I want something that's best for both parties - safe, and makes them money. Right now ads do that the best (not including popups), because we can just avoid them with adblock. I'm not trusting yet of the mining thing in the same respect.

[Spoetnik]

When i download torrent i mine monero?

Nope.
It is saying if you visit the web page.
The ability for a web site to do that already existed before this story.
So it has little to do with torrents.
In other words if you have a web site you too can go an add the coin mining to it.

So..
This could be happening on any site with almost any Altcoin.. Monero or others.
The Javascript is in web pages and is coded to mine coins.. via the web browser.

Go here for more info on it.. https://coin-hive.com/documentation/miner
I can't.. i blocked it in my hosts file  

[deepcryptomine]

When i download torrent i mine monero?

Nope.
It is saying if you visit the web page.
The ability for a web site to do that already existed before this story.
So it has little to do with torrents.
In other words if you have a web site you too can go an add the coin mining to it.

So..
This could be happening on any site with almost any Altcoin.. Monero or others.
The Javascript is in web pages and is coded to mine coins.. via the web browser.

Go here for more info on it.. https://coin-hive.com/documentation/miner
I can't.. i blocked it in my hosts file  

Wow thanks for the information. I am surprised that someone hasn't started an ICO for JS miner yet .

[slaman29]

At least the site was transparent about informing users about it. I'm not surprised anyway that sites do these. Especially the streaming sites where you have to stream from the site. Which is why I use some streaming apps that take the feed from such sites. Lesson for all: use ad block. Nothing is free in this world. Stream and torrent, help people mine crypto. Nice.

[Spoetnik]

At least the site was transparent about informing users about it. I'm not surprised anyway that sites do these. Especially the streaming sites where you have to stream from the site. Which is why I use some streaming apps that take the feed from such sites. Lesson for all: use ad block. Nothing is free in this world. Stream and torrent, help people mine crypto. Nice.

They weren't "transparent" about it at all.. that is why it made world news.

[Matic]

wow! this is great. if this can replace the ads i am all for it. prefer to give up a couple of processor cycles instead of ads and being sent to malicious web sites.

[CrazyCreeptonaut]

WOW nice idea !!!
it feels unsafe a little but the idea itself is cool

[Zogrd]

wow, wasn't even aware that this is so easily possible.

[zxl912157]

does this site do illegal mining?
they lack the funds to develop this web, so he needs other funds and crypto is a shortcut to cover that shortfall. Is this true?

[cp_underground]

https://www.neowin.net/news/the-pirate-bay-hijacks-visitors-cpu-causing-100-spikes-everyone-loses-their-

In a hilarious twist of irony, thepiratebay.se has been caught out "testing" a script that uses the CPU cycles of its visitors to mine cryptocurrecy. Apparently, this is going to replace ads though.

Puttin' mah yeezys's on.. i'm oughta here !



EDIT:

More info..
https://pirates-forum.org/Thread-PIRATE-BAY-OFFICIAL-SITE-MINER?pid=195783#pid195783

i know this news yesterday, but for today when im visiting the website my cpu is normal.

[sylance]

I actually think this is a great idea but would need to be 100% opt in; ideally with a browser extension that's easily toggles between ads or CPU mining.  I think there's an opportunity here for some innovation that can benefit content creators without the annoying ads.  But again... 100% opt in and transparent. 

[itsv]

coin-hive also have POW captha and url shortner

[liviux]

like other said they announced. and i think is a good idea for them. good luck

[Febo]

i know this news yesterday, but for today when im visiting the website my cpu is normal.

It only happened fro 24 hours. I dont exactly know which date.  In general it will happen same on many websites.  It is just unused CPU getting used. Way better then Firestorm java that uses tons of your CPU for nothing. Because idiotic website designers stick them everywhere they can.

[DanWagner]

It will probably get them more money then normal adds.
I don't like that a lot of people don't know they are mining it so it is a bit sneaky.

[KiwiMining]

Would of been much nicer if they had a notification on homepage with an Accept or Reject option to support TPB with mining

[criticoflife]

and that's why i don't use pirate bay anymore.  KODI #1 Stream all the movies i want as soon as they are available and extremely easy to add any subtitles to them also without having to hunt them down and download them. Only downside to KODI is the amount of cams that i open up by mistake.

[Ch1bi]

If they were transparent with using visitor's CPU power to mine I don't think too many people would be upset. However I can understand the shock. Personally, I'm in favor of this versus ads because it's less intrusive, and hopefully I don't think it would ruin the browsing experience on the site. I'm just wondering why thepiratebay chose to mine Monero vs other crypto..

[HashieNewb]

If they were transparent with using visitor's CPU power to mine I don't think too many people would be upset. However I can understand the shock. Personally, I'm in favor of this versus ads because it's less intrusive, and hopefully I don't think it would ruin the browsing experience on the site. I'm just wondering why thepiratebay chose to mine Monero vs other crypto..

It don't really matter, the website can do whatever it wants. If there's people complaining about then move on and torrent somewhere else.

[coastbank]

I think this should be announced in public. As regular piratebay user I wouldn't feel bad to see them mining monero over me. I don't remember how many great movies and games they allowed me to watch/play so I can help them in return. Only problem is that they shouldn't do this hideously.

[eternalgloom]

If they were transparent with using visitor's CPU power to mine I don't think too many people would be upset. However I can understand the shock. Personally, I'm in favor of this versus ads because it's less intrusive, and hopefully I don't think it would ruin the browsing experience on the site. I'm just wondering why thepiratebay chose to mine Monero vs other crypto..

It don't really matter, the website can do whatever it wants. If there's people complaining about then move on and torrent somewhere else.

Using visitors' computers for mining without their consent is pretty low actually, even for The Piratebay.
I'm not opposed to it as long they inform their users, I have Javascript disabled by default so it doesn't really affect me anyway.

[Yhotolu]

wow, did not even know it was so easy but it's probably illegal.

[rainbow169]

The issue I see is not TPB mining monero, rather doge advertisers are going to update their ad script to include the mining script too,  so that we have doge ads as well as losing CPU power, ouch!

[leslie4u]

Well I am not surprised with this news especially when we have mediums like mining via web-browser. Also, for such sites if they do not earn via advertisement, I think this can be an alternative for sure. From user point of view this can be a bit stressful especially for the machine they use for browsing such sites.

Nevertheless, this isn't the first time when computers around the world was/can be used for mining.

[CryptoRobert]

To be honest this isn't a terrible idea and it was announced on their blog first

Plus 'stealing' CPU power from people 'stealing' content isn't exactly something for everyone to get upset about.

Yes, this is one of the things people like to forget about. If you go on a torrent file to steal content, you cannot really complain if you end up getting some CPU or graphic power stolen in the process

[dave4925]

They should ask for permission before abusing your hardware like that

[CryptoRobert]

They should ask for permission before abusing your hardware like that

Well, they abuse of hardware of people who are there to abuse of the creative work of others without paying (that's downloading torrents).
I don't want to say that it is intrisecally wrong the latter, but then, how can be wrong if the abuse is happening the other way round?
It's a matter of Karma.

[dave4925]

They should ask for permission before abusing your hardware like that

Well, they abuse of hardware of people who are there to abuse of the creative work of others without paying (that's downloading torrents).
I don't want to say that it is intrisecally wrong the latter, but then, how can be wrong if the abuse is happening the other way round?
It's a matter of Karma.

Yeah I can see that.  I guess they do deserve it.

[Swinging Phallus]

This isn't malicious at all. I actually think this is a great idea - I would rather mine for them than see obnoxious / obtrusive ads

[dave4925]

This isn't malicious at all. I actually think this is a great idea - I would rather mine for them than see obnoxious / obtrusive ads

I'd much rather see ads which go into my ad blocker, but I don't use that site in particular.  I'd hate to end up on a site that does, especially when I am mining on another process on that machine at the time.  It'd probably crash.