Summary The leaked episode did not come from HBO servers. Photo courtesy: The Guardian
(Web Desk) - An unaired episode from the latest season of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones has appeared on the internet.
However, according to The Verge the episode was not from HBO’s servers which were hacked earlier in the week. Instead the leaked episode was from HBO’s Indian distribution partner, Star India, which confirmed the leak in a statement.
A spokesperson for Star India stated that the leak was being taken very seriously and that Star India had “immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause. This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action.”
Further investigation of the incident seems to show that Star India appears to have inadvertently leaked the episode online through its own website as Smartprix managed to spot a direct link to the MP4 of the episode over at Star India’s own distribution site.
This is not the first Game of Thrones leak to take place as the show’s popularity has made it a prime target for hackers. The first four episodes of the series’ fifth season were made available online due to advance screeners that are sent out to members of the press and in a similar incident an HBO subsidiary also had released a season 6 episode a day early.
Meanwhile, on social media many users admitted to having watched the leaked video with most praising the episode.
Just watched Episode 4, Game Of Thrones Season 7. DROGON A BEAST #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/dv07bJif0Q
— green (@btbgreen) August 5, 2017
S7 basically
— Nadhrah Ridzuan (@nadhrahrdzn) August 5, 2017
Ep 4: Best episode ever!
Ep 5: Best episode ever!
Ep 6: Wait, THIS is the best episode ever!
Ep 7: Holy shit!#GameOfThrones
Game of Thrones fans also tweeted humorous explanations over who they thought was responsible for the episode leak and commented on what it felt like after having watched the episode.
Me after watching the leak of #GameOfThrones episode 4 pic.twitter.com/IZ88aNGpyF
— Zaky Amiyoso (@zakiamiyoso) August 5, 2017
We all know who is responsible for the leaked episode of #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/S99199Fk4u
— aven fauzi (@avenseenafauzi) August 5, 2017
Game of Thrones is a highly popular TV series which is based on the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series written by American author George R. R. Martin.
