Should Websites Be Allowed To Put Cryptocurrency Miner Script?

This weekend we came across a new way of earning revenue for websites. The Pirate Bay #-Link-Snipped-# on their website that allows them to use the visitor’s CPU to mine cryptocurrency. When we visited the website of the creators of the JavaScript, Coinhive, we discovered that the Coinhive JavaScript Miner can be used on any website to mine Monero cryptocurrency. Since the script does not have any UI it can be hidden from the end user. They (CoinHive) advise website administrators to warn their users if they are using the script because customer faith matters.

Here is where The Pirate Bay went wrong; they did not warn their visitors that they were using their CPU for mining cryptocurrency. The Pirate Bay did however set a dangerous precedent, what if other websites follow it? Revenue for a website is hard to come by, as most internet users opt for an ad-blocking plug-in or extension on their browsers. If you do happen to click on a banner advertisement it will eventually show you a warning, “Is everything okay, why are you here?” (borrowed joke from Last Week Tonight).

So here is our question, Should websites be allowed to use a visitor’s CPU to generate revenue? Give us your opinions below.