Private Torrent Sites Allow Users to Mine Cryptocurrency for Upload Credit

rgMekanic

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Some private torrent sites are giving their users the option to use a cryptocurrency miner in exchange for upload credit. This comes after last month when it was found that popular torrent site The Pirate Bay was using a hidden cryptocurrency miner. The implementation on the private sites has been much more forthcoming, with the ability for users to decide whether or not to participate as well as how many CPU threads and usage to dedicate to mining.

I personally think this is a great idea for websites to give their users an option to help out while they browse their favorite sites. With the increased use of AdBlock software and extensions (rightfully so on many websites) it can be difficult to get enough income maintain a website now. The key thing is to make it an option that people can enable if they wish, don't force it on your users without their knowledge or consent.

As cryptocurrency mining becomes more closely associated with 'pirate' sites, some private torrent trackers are implementing an interesting solution to their own economic problems. Through the use of miners, users are able to generate revenue for a site but they're also given so-called 'upload credit' in return, which in itself is a virtual currency variant used to 'buy' content.
 
This whole in browser cryptocurrency mining trend is really interesting and could have really interesting implications for the "consumer" internet at large. What is currently largely back end funded by ads could theoretically be done with cryptocurrency mining. What if you could avoid youtube ads or twitch ads by having a client run for a set amount of time? What impact would large adoption of this have on that cryptocurrency. Really interesting in the theoretical instance, but would the internet at large use it reasonably/morally/ethically?
 
It's nice to see cryptocurrencies branching out from illegal and deadly fake pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, human trafficking, and the slave trade to more mainstream types of criminality.
 
I don't see any problem with this, especially for upload credit on private trackers.
 
I at least like the option to select how it happens vs mysterious cpu use. However now this seems like another venue to get money from compromised companies. Slap this on a major website, and how much money could it make?
 
As long as it is a opt-in I am fine with it. I got a feeling I am going to have monitors up for cpu/GPU usage when browsing the web. I can see a lot of sites doing this with out consent in the near future.
 
This is actually an extremely interesting topic. It piqued my interest when the Showtime story came up a while back. This development could have massive implications for the web.

On one hand, I like the idea of monetizing the content I consume in this way instead of ads or selling of private information. However, if we go down this road we will eventually create a tiered experience. For example today I purchase access through my ISP and I get the majority of the Internet at no extra out of pocket cost. If we move to a system where everyone is monetizing content based on cpu/gpu cycles (power use) then there will be a built in added cost to all access. What would the Internet look like?

Like I said above, I do like the concept.

Someone joked above about folding for cancer.org but why not. If you could leverage a technology to enable ubiquitous distributed computing, think of what you could do with that.
 
antivirus companies are starting to list the miner as high-med risk now (avg does) so the script gets deleted so it cant be started
 
I already have addons to block this sort of thing. I will add more when they become avaliable. I also think anti-virus companies should make a option for this. Block or not to block or white-list/bypass/exclude. I might need another 16GB of ram now. Could get pretty busy with addons.
 
I am not for scripts being executed on my machine without my consent.

That being said I await the day I can set my screensaver to score torrent points for me. All that stupid screen saver does is dance around, might as well make me some money.
 
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