WARNING: HBO Are Going To New Lengths To Catch You Pirating Game Of Thrones

Brace yourself, HBO are coming!

Game of Thrones has been the most pirated TV show for four years running now, and unsurprisingly, Australia lead the way as the biggest pirates of the show.

Well, now HBO have have decided they’ve finally had enough and are implementing new, extreme measures to try and catch out anybody who is illegally watching the hit show.

The TV and Film network have teamed up with anti-pirating company IP Echelon to proactively combat piracy by sending thousands of letters to ISPs (Internet Service Providers). That includes Telstra, Optus, iiNet and other Australian telcos who most likely, provide you with the tools to get your hands on the goods.

The measures include supplying the IP-addresses of BitTorrent users caught sharing recent of Game of Thrones episodes to catch those in the act. The letters ask providers to warn customers when they have been flagged for piracy infringements.

According to TorrentFreak, the letter states

“As the owner of the IP address, HBO requests that [ISP] immediately contact the subscriber who was assigned the IP address at the date and time below with the details of this notice, and take the proper steps to prevent further downloading or sharing of unauthorised content and additional infringement notices.”

Despite the pressure from HBO, ISPs have no obligation to hand over the details of pirates. This means that it’s very unlikely that this approach will prevent the masses from obtaining GoT episodes illegally. It could however dramatically scare people away reduce the overall number of pirates.

Having its content removed from popular torrent websites is a great start, but with other avenues frequently appearing, the fight against piracy is far from won.

So if you’re thinking of downloading episode 3 of GoT illegally… ah, maybe don’t do it!