The Pirate Bay using browsers for cryptocurrency mining: How you can stop it

The Pirate Bay is one of the best torrent sites for 2017. Or at least it was until it came to light that TPB hijacks browsers for cryptocurrency mining. Unfortunately for torrenters, this means more system resources consumed when perusing The Pirate Bay. It's an interesting dynamic. Learn about The Pirate Bay using browsers for cryptocurrency mining, how you can stop it, and the proposed blacklist. [Read: 8 Best BitTorrent clients for Linux distros such as Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora]

The Pirate Bay is hijacking your browser

Best torrent websites 2017 - The Pirate Bay using browsers for cryptocurrency mining: How you can stop it
TPB, one of the most popular torrent websites

Don't panic. Just because TPB employs your browser to mine cryptocurrency doesn't mean this is malicious or dangerous like the Equifax hack or CCleaner malware. Instead, it's rather harmless aside from increased system resource consumption. As BGR reports, a few hours after TPB introduced a coin miner, massive CPU spikes were reported by users.

It's a strange dynamic. On the one hand, The Pirate Bay offers free services and needs to somehow monetize. If you're not willing to pay for content and resort to illicit torrenting, chances are you won't donate to a site which hosts torrents.

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This cryptocurrency mining doesn't cost users anything, merely higher CPU use. As TPB states, their miner isn't intended to hijack CPUs but rather use about 20-30% more. Here's their official statement:





Note :

How to stop The Pirate Bay from hijacking your CPU

As Gizmodo reports, it's fairly easy to block coin miners that websites use. But you'll need to know a specific URL that a site like TPB employs. For Chrome users, No Coin is a plugin that you can try to block coin miners from websites. What you'll need to do is install the addon and navigate to:

Extensions > AdBlock > options > customize > block an ad by URL

Then, enter:

However, that only blocks a specific URL. So you'll need to know what a particular site uses.

The Pirate Bay using browsers for cryptocurrency mining

Ultimately, TPB's use of browsers to mine cryptocurrency is a mixed bag. There's been an upcry among users. But it seems fair to monetize in some way considering torrenters flock to the site to avoid paying for content. Running a website isn't free, especially a highly trafficked one like TPB. So logically, it seems fair that The Pirate Bay uses a few more system resources only while a user is on site. Then, once leaving the page, all is back to normal. Nothing is downloaded.

Also, a Dutch court has ordered that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) block TBP. This overturns a 2014 ruling that found there's little reason to IP blocks in fighting piracy. Coupled with an EU court study that found piracy to have little to no impact on sales of books, games, movies, and music, it seems a waste of resources.

How do you feel about The Pirate Bay mining cryptocurrency while users are on site?

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Moe Long
