'Game of Thrones' Season 5 Episodes Leaked Online on Live Stream Websites: HBO Hit by Leak of First 4 Episodes

A day before the "Game of Thrones" Season 5 premiered on Sunday, April 12, news emerged that the first four episodes of the hit HBO series had been leaked online.

Accusing fingers were soon being pointed towards the press since it was assumed that one of its members had leaked the episodes after receiving it from HBO for review purposes.

The leaked episodes were first spotted on IPT, a torrent site. From there the episodes quickly spread to other torrent sites such as RARBG, The Pirate Bay, and KickassTorrents.

As the pirated copies of the episodes started spreading and people started viewing them, it was clear that the leaked episodes were standard-definition copies released to the press but with their watermark blurred.

"Game of Thrones" has the distinction of being the most pirated TV series in the world. Within the first three hours of the leaked episodes appearing online, the downloads had crossed the 100,000 mark. It is estimated that the number of illegal downloads would easily cross the million mark.

HBO, in a statement released after the leak, noted that "the leaked four episodes of the "Game of Thrones" season originated from within a group approved by HBO to receive them, adding that it is "actively assessing how this breach occurred."

Season 4 of "Game of Thrones" was illegally downloaded 7 million times between February and April of this year, making it the most pirated show during the period.

However, with almost half of the fifth season episodes leaking now, the show is in danger of losing a huge chunk of its viewership. This time round, "Game of Thrones" is being simulcast in 170 countries in an effort to combat piracy. HBO even made the show available on HBO Now and Sling TV, which are much cheaper than a cable connection.

As for viewers of the series, they have long being plagued by spoilers originating from those who have read the book series "A Song of Ice and Fire."

Now, as spoilers are likely to originate from those who have watched the first four episodes, several websites have started warning viewers to stay off the Internet at least for this month.