Game of Thrones Producers Worry About Leaks
I suppose in a world where everything gets leaked on to the internet, from Harry Potter to Doctor Who, it’s natural that some producers of Game of Thrones spend time worrying themselves over anything from the new season getting out early.
Speaking to the Denver Post, Greg Spence, the man in charge of Game of Thrones’ post-production, admits he worries about it constantly. Spence is the man who’s in charge of dragons–as well as all the other special effects, music, sound, and color. His two biggest fears are leaks and hackers.
“The cast is looping all over the world, sending files back and forth. Artists are working in special-effects houses all over the world. The files are watermarked, and editors have to confirm in writing that they’ve deleted them.” Still, with fans desperate to get a sneak peek of the epic drama, it’s troubling.
Spence, imagining hackersAs of yet, there have been no leaks despite the fact that the show has recently had two premieres in two different countries, plus several advanced screenings on college campuses, so Spence’s fears seem (so far) to be unfounded. Perhaps fans want to savor the wait and watch together? Perhaps they’re operating on the same instinct that led Potter fans to refuse to read leaked portions of the novel, or Doctor Who fans to insist they would like to stay spoiler free please last summer? Still, though there have been plenty of opportunities to upload the first episode of Season 5 to the internet, it has not happened in a wide enough manner to matter.
Not that that changes whether or not those torrents will be filled with Game of Thrones episodes once they hit your TV. HBO has taking huge unprecedented steps this season to combat the piracy problem, including simulcasting the show in 170 countries–that’s basically all of the ones they have partnerships with except the UK. Plus, they’re introducing the stand alone HBO Now service, which won’t require cable/satellite subscriptions, and will only cost $14.99. (Doesn’t quite trip off the tongue like $9.99, but oh well.) And yet, TorrentFreak says these measures won’t be enough, pointing out that legal availability is not the problem.
Data gathered during the first 12 hours of the season 4 premiere revealed that most downloads originated from Australia, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands. So there must be something else going on.
The price tag attached to many of legal services may be too high for some. In Australia, for example, it cost $500 to follow last year’s season and in the U.S. some packages were priced as high as $100 per month.
HBO Now should cut into this some. But you also only can get it through limited sources. Or as some pointed out–in order to get HBO Now via Apple TV, most people would first have to go out and buy an Apple TV box. And though the show may outwardly support HBO fighting piracy, they’ve admitted before the title of “Most Pirated Show” makes up for other things, like their lack of Emmy recognition.
It will be interesting to see if HBO’s efforts pay off, or if Game of Thrones will take the title of Most Pirated TV Show once again for 2015.
Oh, and if you have seen the first episode up on torrents from one of these many prescreenings… don’t tell me.
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