HBO is seriously stepping up their war on internet piracy of ‘Game of Thrones’.

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Not only are they pulling down an increased amount of pirated footage, their response time is also faster than ever and they’re working closer with internet providers to assist them.

According to TorrentFreak.com, HBO has even enlisted an antipiracy partner, IP-Echelon, which is sending out thousands of copyright warnings for piracy.

The notices to internet service providers contain IP addresses of users suspected of sharing ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes through torrent sites. The warnings ask that ISPs contact the users in question and “take the proper steps to prevent further downloading or sharing of unauthorised content and additional infringement notices.”

They also encourage the ISPs to inform their members of legal means of watching ‘Game of Thrones’:

We also encourage you to inform the subscriber that HBO programming can easily be watched and streamed on many devices legally by adding HBO to the subscriber’s television package.

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Seems like a battle they can’t really win, doesn’t it? I’m actually stunned that they’re even that fussed about this. People have been pirating ‘Game of Thrones’ forever and it’s still the most watched TV show on the planet (or up there anyway). It’s not like they’re desperate for viewers or anything. There are still millions of people watching legally every week even if there are a bunch of others downloading and watching illegally.

Surely the more people who watch the show, legally or not, then the better it is for HBO. Everyone watching illegally is still talking about it and recommending it to new people who may or may not watch it legally. We watch it for free, you get free word of mouth advertising. Seems a fair deal but I guess they don’t see it that way.

Besides, haven’t the people at HBO ever torrented anything? Even Kanye West got busted torrenting after threatening to sue Pirate Bay.