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In 2014, HBO's adaptation of the George R.R. Martin novel, "Game of Thrones," surpassed "The Sopranos" as the most-watched television show in the network's premium cable history. The premiere of "Game of Thrones" Season 6 in April recorded an impressive 10.7 million unique viewers - an all-time best for the fantasy program.
Because of the show's popularity, it is unsurprising how "Game of Thrones" episodes are made available for illegal download, mere hours after its premiere. Fortunately, or unfortunately in some cases, reports claim that HBO is finally cracking down individuals and groups who downloads and distributes "Game of Thrones" episodes.
According to Torrent Freak, HBO's anti-piracy arm IP Echelon has begun sending thousands of warning emails to ISPs in order to take action against people who illegally download "Game of Thrones" content. The email contains specific IP addresses of individuals who were caught sharing recent screenings of the popular HBO series.
"We also encourage you to inform the subscriber that HBO programming can easily be watched and streamed on many devices legally by adding HBO to the subscriber's television package," read a part of IP Echelon's email to the ISPs.
Likewise, the network has also begun cracking down on "Game of Thrones" related material uploaded on video streaming websites like Youtube. According to Business Insider, a Spanish Youtube user, who seems to have insider knowledge about the show, has had his videos taken down after he posted a video containing "Game of Thrones" Season 6 spoilers. Youtube has sighted copyright infringement for their actions; however, the user did not use any photos or clips for the "Game of Thrones" Season 6 spoiler video he uploaded.
Business Insider has since reached out to HBO for comments regarding the action taken, and according to the cable network, they intend to aggressively protect their programming content.
"HBO aggressively protects its programming, but we find it counterproductive to publicly discuss specific anti-theft tactics," read a part of their statement.
Despite the valiant efforts HBO has enacted over the past few months, "Game of Thrones" has remained the number one most pirated show on television. To date, the show has garnered a whopping 14.4 million unique torrent downloads.
Watch the video below to know if "Game of Thrones" success owes it to piracy:
