The Cyber Crime Department of Maharashtra has solved the Game of Thrones case, tracing the leakage to Prime Focus Technologies, and arrested four people in connection with the incident.
Episode 4 of the ongoing season 7 with Star India’s watermark was leaked on the Internet two days before its scheduled release in the US and India at 0730 hours (local time) on August 7, 2017.
Star India and Novi Digital (the wholly owned subsidiary of Star India that operates Hotstar) had filed a complaint with the office of Brijesh Singh, Special Inspector General of Police (Cyber), Government of Maharashtra, informing that an episode (season 7, episode 4) of Game of Thrones was leaked and illegally made available for viewing on internet.
After investigation, the authorities arrested four people associated with Star India’s technology vendor, Prime Focus Technologies.
Game of Thrones is an HBO adaptation of a fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire authored by George RR Martin. Prime Focus Technologies is a content management company that helps the television or digital broadcast platforms in data transfer and storage.
A statement released by the IGP reads, “Officers of the Cyber and PAW, Government of Maharashtra, conducted preliminary enquiry and based on the electronic trail and other technical material, zeroed in on Prime Focus Technologies, the agency contracted by Star India to manage the data, as being responsible for the illegal leakage of the episode.”
The IGP said Prime Focus Technologies, as of now, has come forward and accepted that the leakage had happened at its end. The agency has lodged a complaint (FIR) against one of its serving employees, alleging that he, a former employee and a few others gained unauthorised access to the episode and illegally leaked it for on the internet.
Star India’s communiqué says, “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 for protecting it.”
A joint team from the office of Cyber & PAW, Government of Maharashtra, and the office of DCP (Cyber), BKC, Mumbai, inspected the Bangalore office of Prime Focus Technologies from where the leakage was suspected to have occurred and interrogated its employees throughout the night on August 11, 2017. The investigation revealed the complicity and involvement of more people than those specifically named in the FIR, particularly the ones working in the office and otherwise lawfully having access to the raw data of the series.
The information and material collected at the Bangalore office and the Mumbai Police station was collated, studied and analysed by the police. After the material sufficiently established the role and involvement of various persons – both, existing and former employees as well as outsiders –four persons were arrested on August 14, 2017.
The suspects were produced before a magistrate, which sent them to police custody for seven days till August 21, 2017. The police are still probing the case.
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