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Australia accounted for 11.6 per cent of the total torrent site downloads of the Game of Thrones' fourth season premiere, according to data gathered by TorrentFreak.
The piracy tracking website also stated that Melbourne fans were the largest downloaders, accounting for 3.2 per cent of the total, followed by Athens and Sydney. Brisbane and Perth also made the top 10 city by city breakdown.
Naomi Messenger from the Australian Copyright Council said most local downloads were driven by impatience.
“There hasn’t been a legitimate outlet for the Australian audiences to get it at the same time,” she said.
“Television stations here are trying to rebroadcast as soon as possible to provide a legitimate and non-copyright infringing option for consumers … the cost of data in Australia is relatively cheaper than waiting around.”
Ms Messenger said research had found Australian viewers weren’t opposed to paying for material, if the industry could meet increasingly demanding deadlines.
“There have been a lot of studies done where people say they’d be more than happy to respect copyright if they can get their hands on the stuff when they want it,” she said.
“It’s just we’re having trouble with the industry coming up to speed with our demand. Our demand is becoming quicker and quicker and we want it out.”
The new episode from the HBO series was downloaded more than half a million times in half a day, according to TorrentFreak, crashing the HBO Go service.
