HBO gets more aggressive in fighting Game of Thrones piracy

HBO has stepped up its measures to fight Game of Thrones piracy, following the hiring of anti-piracy partner IP Echelon.

Recently, thousands of copyright infringement warnings have been sent out to those pirating the first episodes of the show's sixth season; the company is also requesting takedowns to torrent sites (some of which have removed the torrents in as little as a few minutes -- much quicker than usual), and encouraging ISPs to take action against alleged pirates.

The requests in question also highlight the legal method, something new to these kinds of statements.

"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," it reads.

It's difficult to tell exactly how much an impact HBO and IP Echelon's efforts will have on piracy, but one thing seems clear: the latter company is doing a heck of a job.