Periscope is an app that was launched by Twitter not too long ago. The idea of the app is simple – basically it’s like a mobile version of Twitch where users can broadcast a live video stream of themselves from their mobile devices, making it a pretty awesome tool for journalists on the go covering events.
However it turns out that Periscope can also be used for more nefarious activities, such as piracy which is what HBO found out when they discovered that there were Periscope users who used the app to live stream the first episode of Game of Thrones. The company has since sent takedown notices to Periscope, asking them to remove the offending videos from the service’s platform.
According to a HBO spokeswoman, “We are aware of Periscope and have sent takedown notices. In general, we feel developers should have tools which proactively prevent mass copyright infringement from occurring on their apps and not be solely reliant upon notifications.” Periscope’s terms of service does note that they do not support copyright infringement, although they largely rely on users reporting the infringing content as opposed to scouring for it themselves.
Given that Game of Thrones is such a huge hit culturally, it isn’t surprising that it “won” the most pirated show for 2013 and 2014, and it looks like piracy of the show might have gotten a new medium thanks to Periscope.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Game Of Thrones, Hbo, Periscope, Piracy and Twitter.