Australia Still Freakin' Loves To Illegally Download "Game Of Thrones"

Torrenting isn't a pit. Torrenting is a ladder.

UPDATE:

Apr. 26, 2016, at 23:22 PM

A representative for BitTorrent has told BuzzFeed News that while they cannot substantiate any claims by TorrentFreak that there were more than a million downloads in half a day of the premiere of Game of Thrones Series 6, Episode 1, they can "emphatically say this content is not available 'via BitTorrent'."

Copyright and piracy blog TorrentFreak has estimated that Australians made up 12.5% of all torrent downloads for the first episode of Game of Thrones Series 6 yesterday.

HBO

According to TorrentFreak, more than a million people strapped themselves into their local torrent library and downloaded the HBO megahit, all for free and totally, seriously, you're-grounded-for-a-month illegally.

"After half a day, over a million people have downloaded the episode via BitTorrent," says TorrentFreak. "At the time of writing, more than 200,000 people are actively sharing one of the three most-popular torrents."

These statistics only account for BitTorrent downloads, which means other options, like illegal streaming and direct download sites, could increase that number even more.

Australians can watch Game of Thrones as it airs in the United States, but it is only available on pay-TV service Foxtel.

HBO

Foxtel has gone so far as to purchase digital rights to Game of Thrones as well, meaning iTunes, HBO Go, and other streaming services cannot offer the program to Australians.

Last week it was announced that the Australasian Performing Right Association board had filed an application with the Federal Court of Australia to have Kickass Torrents, an offshore torrenting site, blocked in Australia.

The chair of the APRA Board, Jenny Morris, seemed pretty confident Australians would have barred access to the site, and that it was only a matter of time.

"Illegal offshore sites like Kickass Torrents show a complete disrespect for music creators and the value of music," Morris said. "Australian music fans already have access – for free if they choose – to the world’s repertoire of music via more than 20 legitimate licensed online music services. Blocking access to sites like Kickass Torrents is all about supporting those services and allowing the writers whose songs are available on them to be paid for their work."

It seems it's only a matter of time until there's just nowhere to go for the torrent enablers in all of us.

HBO