HBO could have used a relatively simple math equation to track down – and even stop – the pirates who put out the first four episodes of Game of Thrones Season 5, according to a developer.
The hit series, which is one of the most illegally downloaded TV series of all time, had the first four episodes of its highly anticipated new season leaked — possibly by a translator who received advanced copies. The episodes ended up on public BitTorrent trackers.
Although HBO should want to crack down on piracy, especially now that they're offering HBO Now, their online-only streaming option, the only protection the advanced copies had were watermarks — which most experts consider useless in preventing piracy.
Basically, that means the pirates blurred out the small watermark in the bottom left corner of the video — a relatively simple task, and something many pirates even brag about doing.
But according to developer Bruno Cauet, HBO had other options for not just tracking those responsible for the leak, but also stopping the leaks from happening in first place.
"The idea is very simple: make each copy unique in a non-visible way," he wrote on his blog (via The Register).
Cauet took it a step further, providing several mathematical equations that would allow HBO to do just that, including changing the length of the credits, changing the length of the scenes and changing the constant total length of the episode for each individual copy. The equations would make the process simple for HBO and help them track down whoever is leaking episodes — as well as perhaps finding those leaks faster and preventing them from getting torrented.
As for those who might want to watch the pirated episodes, Cauet advises against it — for reasons other than the obvious illegality.
"Apart from that, I think that binge-watching the first 4 episodes is a stupid idea that will make you ache for a month waiting for the 5th episode," he wrote.
HBO probably needn't worry too much about the leaked episodes. The first episode of Season 5 of Game of Thrones garnered its highest live viewership numbers yet — breaking its own previous 2014 record by 1.4 million. The full numbers for that episode will also probably shatter records when the data arrives in just about three weeks.
Game of Thrones airs on HBO on Sundays.
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