Ever felt a bit guilty for illegally downloading a TV show? Well, feel guilty pretty much surrounded by other similarly guilty people.
See, Game Of Thrones Series 5 is due to return, but so many Westeros fans are hesitant to pay to watch the TV show they know and love that the new series is set to see a surge in online piracy. According to Irdeto, a rights management and piracy protection firm, series one to four of Thrones were downloaded more than seven million times over two months this year, compared with 4.9 million in the same length of time from 2014.
The worst culprits for piracy, country-wise were Brazil, then France then the USA. And the most pirated episode? The Season 4 finale was downloaded a whopping eight million times in 2014, reports TorrentFreak (via SkyNews, who, incidentally, is the sister company of Sky Atlantic, the channel which shows Game Of Thrones in the UK).
Anyway, enough of the facts. HBO, the company who make the hit fantasy TV series will keep the likes of Khaleesi, Little Finger, Jon Snow and Arya all safe, although, as they’re looking to target piracy by releasing the TV show across the world all at once. In this simulcast, 170 countries will be able to screen the show to all their viewers on the 12 April (that’s this Sunday, guys!).
And if you’re still watching the show illegally after that? Well, maybe you don’t feel guilty about your piracy at all. But do feel guilty for the fact that HBO aren’t getting enough money to make their CGI dragons even slightly real.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.