Popular torrenting software µTorrent has included an automatic cryptocoin-miner in their latest update.

I think the main objection is that it's opt-out, i.e. preselected so if you don't carefully examine every page/option in the installation process you will (unwittingly) get it installed.

One could always argue that people should read through every single page and the full contents of every EULA of every software they download and install but that's not the reality we live in. The uTorrent crew (just as all others, like Oracle with the Ask.com-toolbar bundling in Java or Adobe with their annoying Lightroom and McAfee crap history) full well knows that most installation today is done almost on autopilot, we're used so used to the installers that if they sneak in a pre-selected option somewhere a lot of people will miss it because there was no reason to suspect it being there.

I actually find the blog post you linked to be a bullshit argument, because he was aware of the crap 3rd party bundling before running the installer thus was in a heightened state of awareness regarding reading through every single step. Not very representative for most situations.

And just because it is the user's responsibility to thoroughly check installation steps and examine each page carefully it doesn't make the sudden bundling of preselected (opt-out) 3rd party software any less of a bitch move from uTorrents part since they full well know people will miss it. (If not, why not make it opt-in? I'll tell you why: Because they knew hardly a handful would fill out that checkbox.)

And if one wants to see conspiracy in this and speculate freely they might even have replaced the installation file with one that is more clear in the directions after they deleted the thread on the forum. (Why would they even delete the thread to start with? Except for the reason it had people in it that had examined the installation process and claimed there was no clear indication additional 3rd party programs would be installed.)

TL;DR This is a typical dark pattern. The blog author was already aware of the 3rd party bundling before installing and was therefore biased to find it. Maybe they even replaced the installation file before he downloaded it.

/r/technology Thread Link - forum.utorrent.com