Gone are the days when pirating was only limited to CDs and DVDs. With the advances in technology and fast access tothe Internet, digital piracy has gone more viral than before.
Though it is not surprising to find illegal music and films to download, TV series and shows are now also part of the repertoire. HBO has been known to have its legal battles and challenges regarding protecting its hit series Game of Thrones from pirates. Netflix has now also joined in the battle with 'Orange Is The New Black' being the most illegally downloaded series to date.
Since the release of Season 3 last week Netflix subscribers are able to stream the entire series for only $7.99 a month. But with the prevalence of multiple sites streaming the show illegally, there's no telling just how many people watched the show for free.
The problem that companies like Netflix and HBO face is that most Internet search engines are far more likely to bring up piracy sites during a search than bring up the company's dedicated streaming site. One way Netflix thought of dealing with the problem is by fighting to beat out the links of those piracy sites. Though this is a valiant effort, the truth of the matter is it's incredibly easy to find sites with illegal streams since these sites appear ahead of the official links, hindering non-subscribers from finding ways to get to the official streaming links for their favorite shows.
Another reality that official sites need to deal with is that people who frequent piracy websites will in all likelihood continue to do so regardless of what search results bring up on the top list. Companies will have to find other ways of preventing the illegal behavior and they have to do it fast since pirate sites pop up faster than you can say ahoy.
For its part, Netflix is trying to limit certain forms of pirating, but so far it's a losing battle. With HBO seeing over 48 million illegal downloads for Game of Thrones and AMC's The Walking Dead experiencing 47 million illegal downloads, the war against online pirates is far from being won.
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