Indian authorities arrested four individuals Monday in connection with the leak of “The Spoils of War,” the fourth episode of season 7 of Game of Thrones. The accused include current and former employees of Prime Focus Technologies, a Mumbai-based company that manages data for HBO’s Asian distribution partner Star India. They are charged with “criminal breach of trust and computer-related offenses” in violation of India’s Information Technology Act of 2000. The four are being detained until August 21, pending further investigation of the incident.
In response to the arrests, Star India released the following statement: “We are deeply grateful to the police for their swift and prompt action. “We believe that valuable intellectual property is a critical part of the development of the creative industry and strict enforcement of the law is essential to protecting it.”
The leaked copy of “The Spoils of War” appeared on Reddit on August 4, two days before it was scheduled to air on HBO. The leak did not appear to negatively affect the show’s ratings, as the episode was seen by a record 10.2 million viewers.
The case against the four people accused of leaking”The Spoils of War” is separate from the cyber attack of HBO by unknown hackers.
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