Hacker Claims To Convey Leaked Episodes Of Orangish Is The Novel Dark Later Failing To Have Ransom

A hacker calling himself The Dark Overlord claims to lead maintain released the starting fourth dimension 10 episodes of the novel flavor of Orange Is the New Black, later Netflix failed to meet his demands for ransom. The move, if true, represents an audacious too highly illegal novel frontier inwards digital piracy, which already costs the amusement manufacture billions of dollars inwards lost profits.

Netflix, which produces the acclaimed show, said inwards a statement to Entertainment Weekly that it is aware of the province of affairs too that a "production vendor used past times several major TV studios had its safety compromised too the appropriate constabulary enforcement government are involved."

All xiii episodes of the 5th flavor of Orange is the New Black are scheduled to last released inwards its entirety on June 9. In a hostile notation posted Fri to the text storage site Pastebin, the hacker said that he had requested a "modest" sum of coin inwards telephone commutation for non releasing the novel episodes early. But since Netflix did non accede to those demands, he is purported to lead maintain released several episodes, via an illegal streaming service.

"The groups that are taking these pre-released movies too TV shows too posting them online are every bit good engaged inwards a lot of other illegal activity," says Keith Kupferschmid, primary executive of the Copyright Alliance, an advocacy grouping for copyright holders. "The fact that they would lead maintain the side past times side step, too agree it for ransom too show to brand roughly coin off of it is non terribly surprising - because that's what they're trying to do."

Kupferschmid says that it's possible that other amusement companies lead maintain every bit good previously been the targets of attempted blackmail, exactly were able to run along those incidents from becoming public. The Orange Is the New Black hacker threatened other media companies, including Fox, NBC too National Geographic, inwards the online ransom note. Officials from Netflix too the good production studio said to last the target of the hacks did non directly answer to requests for comment.

Brett Danaher, an economic science professor at Chapman University who studies the effects of piracy on the amusement industry, says that this may last something studios volition last forced to aspect amongst increasing frequency. "There is roughly evidence that pre-release piracy is the most damaging piracy to studios," he says. "And at nowadays that nosotros know it's the most damaging piracy, it's tempting. It's tempting to criminal, or hackers."

Danaher says that the malicious intent of this hack - inwards contrast to other forms of piracy, such every bit the unauthorized sharing of studios' celluloid screeners - reminded him of the 2014 laid on on Sony, which resulted inwards the liberate of embarrassing emails, every bit good every bit movies.

"The interesting affair most this scenario is that you've basically got a pirate attack," he says. "This isn't mortal who's worried most if yous tin seat the source. This is an intentional crime."