Although HBO's hit show Game of Thrones is the most pirated TV show ever, HBO isn't worried and considers it a compliment. Every episode of the show is downloaded nearly 4 million times by pirates around the world.
According to HBO's programming president the massive amount of pirated downloads has helped the sales of the DVD release. The programming president, Michael Lombardo, even called the large amount of piracy a compliment to the show.
The Game of Thrones DVD sales broke a record, almost 241,000 units of the second season were sold. An increase of more than 44% compared to season one. Also sales of individual episodes were up, they sold 112% more episodes of season two than season one. According to Lombardo is piracy, "something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network."
Nevertheless the official HBO policy remains that it is firmly against piracy. The company makes money from their subscriptions, digital downloads and DVD sales and therefor has to protect their assets. According to Lombardo the company will stop piracy if they see it happen, especially when people are selling pirated versions. But he also added that HBO hasn't sent out the 'Games of Thrones' police.
