Game of Thrones: Sheer excitement or monetary reward, why was the episode leaked?

Mumbai cops are investigating whether the accused wanted to tarnish the image of the firm tasked with storing and processing these episodes for the Indian company that airs them

Why was the fourth episode of Game of Thrones season 7 leaked?

On August 4, a link to the downloaded episode ‘The Spoils of War’ appeared online, three days before its official release (HT)

Cyber police officials of the Mumbai crime branch are questioning the four men they arrested to determine whether they leaked the episode out of sheer excitement, so they could watch it before it was released, or to earn some cash.

The crime branch is also investigating whether the accused wanted to tarnish the image of the firm tasked with storing and processing these episodes for the Indian company that airs them.

On August 4, a link to the downloaded episode appeared online, three days before its official release. This led the firm to investigate and later ask the Mumbai police to register a case. Three of its current employees and a former employee are under the police’s scanner.

“We are probing how and why they committed the crime,” said deputy commissioner of police (cyber), Akhbar Pathan.

A crime branch official monitoring the investigation said the police were in the process of ascertaining the roles of each of the accused and collecting evidence against them. The four will remain in police custody till August 21.

In a press release, the firm said it was appreciative of the speed with which the Mumbai police were proceeding with the investigation. “We are working closely with our client and co-operating whole-heartedly with the police to take the investigation to its logical conclusion at the earliest and bring to book the perpetrators of this crime,” said the release.

It said the leak was not the result of a system hack, but a malicious offence by four miscreants. “It is painful to note that despite constant efforts to sensitise employees about the critical need to adhere to ethical practices and highest protocols of content security, full-time serving employees colluded to commit a crime that could destabilise not only the organisations involved, but thousands of livelihoods,” read the release.