Come back from Game of Thrones, as well as those who look at it illegally

It's both easier and harder than ever to watch your favorite TV shows. On the one hand, it seems that everything that has ever been recorded is streaming. On the other hand, these broadcasts are spread across a multitude of platforms, each requiring a subscription to access them.

This is perhaps one of the reasons why "Game of Thrones" is so often viewed illegally, since it is only available on HBO and its streaming service, which both require their own subscriptions. The seventh season of the series was hacked 1.03 billion – yes, billions – of times in September 2017. The finale of this season was seen illegally 120 million times in the three days following its broadcast, either by download, or by unlicensed feeds. For comparison, the same episode broke the series record for most legal views via live television or HBO streaming platforms, recording 16.5 million views.

probably because it did not release new episodes in 2018. According to TorrentFreak, this distinction belongs to "The Walking Dead", followed by "The Flash". It is likely to change soon, however, as HBO prepares to launch the final and most anticipated "Game of Thrones" season on April 14th.

"The" Game of Thrones "has become one of the biggest global entertainment phenomena of today, the activity on hacking networks is totally unprecedented," said Andy Chatterley, CEO of the anti-piracy company MUSO, which published these figures, in a statement. "In addition to the extent of hacking when it 's about popular broadcasts, these numbers demonstrate that unauthorized streaming can be a much bigger type of hacking than torrent downloads. "

HBO has always tried to fight against piracy, perhaps more than other networks. For years, the company has sent letters to Internet hackers asking them to "inform the subscriber that HBO programming can easily be viewed and streamed to many devices in a legal manner in the UK. adding HBO to the TV package of the subscriber. "

As the numbers show that these efforts have not been particularly effective. Common sense suggests that ramping up streaming would help reduce piracy, but it could actually have the opposite effect. Age of Television – which started with "The Sopranos" at the turn of the millennium. This age coincided with the rise of piracy. As the speed of the Internet increased and services such as BitTorrent became a bit more traditional, nothing prevented fans from illegally downloading programs, especially since this rarely resulted in legal action. do not care about the other price offered by its channel. After all, a subscription to HBO also includes shows such as "Big Little Lies", "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and many others. It might not be worth it if a fan is only interested in "Game of Thrones". "The HBO Now app is relatively new and is not available everywhere.For example, it did not reach Canada until 2018.

That's why Josh Randell, a resident of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, hacked the series in 2017, although he received two warnings from HBO via his ISP.

"This n & # It's just not viable for me to spend $ 150 for HBO. It's never been so easy, so why can not I do it easily? "Randell told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in July 2017." Content creators deserve their money. But I want to pay for the content I want, not for the content I want, but for a bunch of extra shit. "

However, some researchers argue that a limited amount of hacking could be positive for HBO, at least in some countries.In Europe, HBO is often provided by a British telecom company called Sky Antino Kim, an badistant professor of operations and technology decision making at the Kelley School of Business of the University of 39, Indiana, explained in a study in 2018 that Sky may wish to raise prices for HBO, but that pirated episodes such as "Game of Thrones" prevent them – otherwise, they may lose more of customers willing to take the risk of hacking.

"Our results do not imply that the legal way should all at once start to actively encourage hacking," Kim wrote. "L & # 39; involvement is simple Indeed, in a real context, (HBO) and (Sky) should recognize that a certain level of piracy or its threat could actually be beneficial and should therefore exercise some moderation in their anti-piracy. efforts. "

© The Washington Post

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