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Game of Thrones is reportedly the most-pirated TV show of 2012.



The HBO fantasy drama has been illegally downloaded more times than any other show, according to BitTorrent-tracking and analysis firm Big Champagne.

"It certainly appears to be the most pirated show of the year [so far]," senior media analyst John Robinson told Forbes.

"The fact that it's consistently at the top of the Pirate Bay's top 100 TV shows chart seems like a pretty in-your-face leading indicator of the huge volume at which this is being shared."

Robinson argued that the amount of piracy is related to the fact that new episodes of Game of Thrones are only available online through streaming site HBO Go, which requires a cable subscription.

"This is absolutely a reaction to the show not being available elsewhere online," he insisted. "It's a very tricky game trying to create this kind of scarcity."

Game of Thrones airs Sundays on HBO and Mondays on Sky Atlantic in the UK.