<http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/04/sydney-university-hacks-its-bell-tower- to-play-the-freaking-game-of-thrones-theme/>
U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Bleich, Facebook entry <https://www.facebook.com/notes/ambassador-bleich/stopping-the-game-of- clones/542850132425361> Stopping the Game of Clones by Ambassador Bleich (Notes) on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 3:14am Earlier this month, my family and I joined millions of others in watching the premiere of the third season of Game of Thrones. For those who arent already fans, it is a great epic chronicling the devious machinations of rival noble houses fighting for supremacy. Unfortunately, nearly as epic and devious as the drama, is its unprecedented theft by online viewers around the world. The file-sharing news website TorrentFreak estimated that Game of Thrones was the most-pirated TV series of 2012. One episode was illegally downloaded about 4,280,000 times through public BitTorrent trackers in 2012, which is about equal to the number of that episodes broadcast viewers. In other words, about half of that episodes viewers stole the program from HBO. As the Ambassador here in Australia, it was especially troubling to find out that Australian fans were some of the worst offenders with among the highest piracy rates of Game of Thrones in the world. While some people here used to claim that they used pirate sites only because of a delay in getting new episodes here, the show is now available from legitimate sources within hours of its broadcast in the United States. So because today is the 17th annual UN World Book and Copyright Day, it is worth reflecting on why piracy is not some victimless crime. A show like Game of Thrones takes a lot of work and talent by many artists to create. These artists can do this work only if we ensure that they are rewarded for their labors. Production companies are no different. Entire industries exist to locate artists, provide them a forum for their works, arrange contracts, record, promote, and sell their works, and free artists from doing other things like waiting tables and parking cars in Hollywood -- by paying them for their efforts. Here in Australia about 8% of the workforce works in the copyright industries and depends on people obeying the law not to mention the artists in Ireland, Malta, Croatia, Iceland, and Morocco, where the series is filmed, who depend on fans obeying the law. And yet, it seems that fans often forget all of this. Anyone might be tempted to download pirated CDs and movies, and illegally share these materials; and there are big businesses that make money by encouraging consumers to illegally upload material as well. But artists livelihoods depend on us rejecting that urge; just as shopkeepers and small businesses depend on people not just stealing products from their shelves. If the 4 million people who watched Game of Throne legally had been illegal downloaders the show would be off the air and there would never have been a Season 3. So to me, Copyright Day is not about government regulations, it is about celebrating and protecting the power of great writers, painters, singers, composers, actors, dancers and other artists to bring us together and enrich our lives. I realize that fans of Game of Thrones who have used illegal file-sharing sites have reasons. They will say it was much easier to access through these sites, or that they got frustrated by the delay in the first season, or their parents wouldnt pay for a subscription, or they will complain about some other issue with copyright laws. But none of those reasons is an excuse stealing is stealing. Buying a book in a store costs more and takes longer than stealing it from your neighbors house, but we all know it is the right thing to do and it allows authors to make a living and write more books. So please celebrate UN World Book and Copyright Day by doing the right thing Tyrion Lannister will thank you for it. 53 Like · Comment · Share Ronald Ryan, Leslie Hawes, Gianina Carter and 24 others like this. 47 of 214 View previous comments Thomas Ridgway Gee i wonder if the entertainment industry will ever break away from their antiquated and quite frankly appalling methods of delivering content? Maybe people would buy the things they want if they are provided to them without all the bullshit. See More Saturday at 9:15am · Edited Chris Riddell For those of you who claim that it's not available for purchase by you, it seems that it is on Itunes. For those of you complaining that you are being charged more for it, is that really an excuse for stealing? ...See More Saturday at 10:49am Conrad Bastian HBO is owned by Time Warner, one of the heaviest hitters in terms of political lobbying. Time Warner made $2.4M in political contributions last year, including $452,000 to Obama, and spent $3.5M lobbying congress. Obama appointed Ambassador Bleich obv...See More Saturday at 1:18pm via mobile · 4 Jacob Kelly Once Australia has access to both A: Cheap, B: Timely, and C: Non-DRM locked access to the episodes, much like you do in the US, you will see piracy rates go down. Until then - its cheaper and easier to simply download it. Hell, if I could get stuff like Netflix in Aus for the same price as the yanks - I'd be the first subscriber. Saturday at 1:29pm · Edited · 6 -- Cheers, Stephen
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