Pirates Love Game of Thrones

[The Wooster]

Pirates Love Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones has become the most pirated TV show of the spring season.

According to numbers from TorrentFreak, the TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin's tale of swords, sorcery and unmitigated bastardry, is really popular amongst viewers of the swashbuckling persuasion. Each episode of the show has been downloaded approximately 3,900,000 times during the season that ended on June 1st 2012, beating out How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, which had 2,830,000 and 2,750,000 per episode respectively. Keep in mind, these numbers only account for episodes downloaded via BitTorrent.

What's interesting is that pirates make up a far larger percentage of Game of Thrones' viewers than they do for its competitors, at least in the states. Many argue this is due to the fact that Game of Thrones is owned by HBO, a company oddly reluctant to take people's money. [http://takemymoneyhbo.com] The show is notoriously difficult to view for those without cable. Even HBO's online streaming service, HBO Go, requires a subscription to HBO's cable service. Throw in the frequent airing delays - the show is particularly popular in Australia, where episodes are aired one week after their US counterparts - and it's easy to see why many viewers, international and otherwise, are turning to piracy for their Tyrion fix.

Currently, the show is on track to replace Showtime's Dexter as the most pirated TV-show of 2012.

Source: TorrentFreak [https://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-most-pirated-tv-show-of-the-season-120608/]

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[Kopikatsu]

Each episode of the show has been downloaded approximately 3,9000,000 times during the season that ended on June 1st 2012, beating out How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, which had 2,830,000 and 2,750,000 per episode respectively.

3,9000,000 times, eh? How would you put that number into words? (Yes, I realize it's a typo. Still.)

It's funny though, because I was considering watching GoT over the interwebs. My provider doesn't show it, and I keep getting told that I absolutely must watch it because otherwise life is not worth living.

 

[Monkeylord]

They paid the iron price

 

[Mr Thin]

They paid the iron price

It really annoys me when people describe it as that, I feel that it glorifies what is a shameful & unethical action.

Then again, despite how awesome 'paying the iron price' sounds, it too is a shameful & unethical action, so I suppose the comparison is fairly accurate.

OT: I think we all knew most people were pirating this show, but it's nice to have some hard numbers. And though I am firmly against piracy, I have to admit, expecting people to pay for cable & a subscription to HBO so that they can watch this one show is ridiculous.

That's why I buy the series on DVD.

Captcha: that's enough

Even Captcha wants me to stop with my moralising. Fine, I'll shut up now.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Spoiler: why does not HBO let us buy Game of Thrones? They are pirates them selves

http://alltheragefaces.com/img/faces/large/neutral-pirate-poker-face-l.png

 

[Artemis923]

I'm a huge of fan of GRRM, and A Song of Ice and Fire is by far my favorite book series of all time.

But do I want to pay for HBO? Nope. I pirated it...then bought the juicy Blu-Ray special case edition when it came out.

After all...A Lannister pays his debts.

 

[joeman098]

I downloaded the 1st season before i realized since i had HBO i had HBO go so i could just watch the 1st season online derp lol

 

[oldtaku]

Piracy is a service problem. If HBO isn't willing to sell the product (without forcing you to subscribe to HBO) then it's gonna get pirated.

SHUT AND TAKE MY MONEY

If not, well, I tried. I'll watch it and you won't get my money.

 

[Eleuthera]

I admit I'm one of those 3.9M, the show still isn't on here (I believe they will start showing S1 in the fall). And if I want any chance to watch it (semi-)un-spoilered I have to pirate. I did get the DVD-box when I came out and am planning on doing the same for S2, so I don't feel too bad about it.

 

[DustyDrB]

This is one case where the "provide a better service" strategy applies. HBO is behind the times. They have some of the best shows, but aren't so accessible. They could so easily fix this by tweaking their HBO Go service. Why is a cable/satellite subscription necessary for it? Make an option to subscribe directly to HBO Go or to use it through the existing cable/satellite subscription. Provide HD video with no commercial interruptions (they'll have ads on the site or the application anyway, right?) and make it compatible with mobile devices.

Maybe that sounds like I'm asking for a lot. Maybe I am. But that's how you "beat" piracy. These companies need to stop treating piracy like a crime to be stomped (whether it is or not) and start treating it like competition.

 

[xyrafhoan]

The DVD didn't even come out until just recently, well after season 1 had ended. I'd say HBO shot itself in the foot by having next to NO online streaming. HBO needs to stop hoarding their shows and start airing episodes online in conjunction with the myriad of streaming websites. It's becoming increasingly hard to envision a world where people are chained to the schedules of a mere cable provider.

 

[Shocksplicer]

I've stuck with just reading the books. They're better anyway, and since I live in Australia it wouldn't be worth bothering to watch the show.

 

[sniddy_v1legacy]

Well unless they stop screwing around with the plot, the problem will have resolved itself halfway through the third season.

I know, my wife how hasn't read the books was all excited about the end of season 2....I need to re-read the books, half of what's going on I can't recall having happened like that...and the ending seems....wrong

 

[Sexy Devil]

*deleted*

 

[WaReloaded]

Living in Australia makes it reasonably difficult to watch a lot of series without having pirated them first (unless you're in a pay-TV compatible area), having said that, I'll only download a series if I know I'll be purchasing the DVD/BluRays upon their release, which is exactly the case with 'Game of Thrones'.

 

[NeonAnderson]

I would GLADLY pay to see Game of Thrones, but that being said I have NO WHERE to pay to see it?!?!!

I mean how stupid is that!!! I WANT TO PAY for it but they WONT LET ME PAY FOR IT. Meaning I have NO way to see it at all unless I pirate it. Go figure then why it is so pirated!

I'm willing to bet that 95 percent of the people pirating it have no way to see it unless they pirate it, just as it is in my case.

I'm sure the bluray and dvd sales will be really good though of Game of Thrones


In general I am quite against pirating stuff. I think if you want to see/play something you should buy it or simply not see/play it at all. But that situation presumes you have the CHOICE to pay for it! If a company is unable to provide it that you can even pay for it then it doesn't even give you the choice of ever paying for it. Meaning you only can play/use a service/watch a show etc... if you pirate it.

Just like Gabe Newell has stated repeatedly; piracy is not the consumer trying to get out of paying for a product or service, it is the inability of the company to provide the service/product correctly to the consumer. Gabe Newell also said the only way to avoid your products and services being pirated is by providing the quality and features of your service or product that the consumers want at the price they want to pay for it.

Piracy is such a complex thing to and far too many companies do not fully understand it, one of the few that has it nailed is Gabe Newell.

 

[BrotherRool]

Don't you have to pay for cable? In which case I'm pretty sure the point isn't for them to make it freely available to everyone else too.

On another note, the Big Bang Theory is fun to watch but people seriously go to the effort to pirate it? What's the point?

 

[evilneko]

Don't you have to pay for cable? In which case I'm pretty sure the point isn't for them to make it freely available to everyone else too.

On another note, the Big Bang Theory is fun to watch but people seriously go to the effort to pirate it? What's the point?

I am sure there are many people who "pirate" a show just to get it in a convenient commercial-free format. Naturally, the commercial-free bit doesn't apply to shows like Dexter or Game of Thrones, but the convenience still does.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

I feel like the only one that despises the show. To me it's nothing more than gratuitous sex and shallow pretense to "adult." It's what a brooding sixteen-year-old would write if you asked them to come up with a mature show.

 

[Polarity27]

I'm one of the swashbucklers, I'm afraid. I do get cable, but to get that show it would cost me *another* $90, in addition to the $50 I already pay for cable. Upgrade to digital tier, rent box allowing me to get digital tier, pay for HBO addon-- $90. Grand total, $140. For *one show*. I'd have to be out of my gourd, or impressively wealthy, to do that.

I gladly buy the DVD sets so my husband can watch the show too (kind of hard when I watch in crap quality on a laptop), but I'm not paying another $90/mo for it. As it is, the cable company gags my download speed, so it takes about 4 hours to download, assuming the file doesn't get corrupted somewhere in between. They should be happy I'm that interested, and not treating it like I did Doctor Who and just give up when it jumped to a digital-only channel.