They've always covered their money trail, it's been a critical part of the illusion they portray where they're good people doing good things for nothing.
Given that the rest of the internet at their popularity level manages to generate enough $$$ to cover thousands of employees, produce their own whatever etc, it's ludicrous to expect TPB's traffic to 'cover hosting' as is the popular rumor.
A similar site, SurfTheChannel, was found to be generating ~$78,000 per month with order(s) of magnitude less traffic.
Given that the rest of the internet at their popularity level manages to generate enough $$$ to cover thousands of employees, produce their own whatever etc, it's ludicrous to expect TPB's traffic to 'cover hosting' as is the popular rumor.
A similar site, SurfTheChannel, was found to be generating ~$78,000 per month with order(s) of magnitude less traffic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfthechannel