HBO seeks to crush 'Spanish Spoiler' Game of Thrones leaker
Now that one of the most popular television shows of all time has moved beyond the yet-to-be-written books that inspired it, fans of Game of Thrones are ever guessing what will happen next.
Amid the countless fan theory videos and blogs about the show there is one man who is more Master of Whisperers than greenseer.
A YouTube vlogger known as the "Spanish Spoiler" has been publishing spoiler videos detailing the entire plot of coming episodes two days before they are released, TechInsider reports.
When publishing the most recent video, the Spanish Spoiler wrote as disclaimer.
"I cannot put spoilers for the 3rd episode of the 6th season of Game of Thrones, because HBO forbids it," he wrote.
"But we can always count predictions, theories, and make analysis of what will happen. And who knows, maybe guess everything."
Much to the chagrin of HBO, desperate to build a wall and defend the realm of the monumentally popular program, the predictions seemed all too close to the plot.
The Spanish Spoiler had to have a little bird whispering in his ear – a fact he later confirmed on Reddit.
To put down the insurrection, the Home Box Office Inc dispatched their legal hordes to have the spider crushed through Digital Millennium Copyright Act take down notices.
And while all men must die, ideas will not – especially when they are so many fans willing to give them sanctuary.
The two largest Game of Thrones communities on Reddit – /r/gameofthrones and /r/asoiaf – have strict no piracy policies, with moderators moving quickly removing posts that break the rules.
But the Spanish Spoiler found a more welcoming community among /r/freefolk – a wild bunch who do not bend the knee to piracy laws.
It was here the Spanish Spoiler confirmed in an "Ask Me Anything" on May 4 that his "Spoiler connection is just 3 weeks old".
One Redditor asked if he was worried he "won't be able to get spoiler info now that you have all of this notoriety?"
To which he replied: "Yes, I am very concerned about that, especially because I don't want to risk [my] source.
"This is a hobby for me, so it ends when YouTube bans me forever or when it stops being entertaining, or someone has to pay the consequences."
"When you play the game of thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground."
As foreseen, when he uploaded a video for the third episode of season six, "Oathbreaker", HBO moved to take it down within hours.
Naturally, HBO is being extra cautious with Game of Thrones this year after the first four episodes of the last season were leaked through press packages.
HBO has not made the same mistake this time, but significant details of episodes have leaked – many through the Spanish Spoiler.
But while he was only posting details – no unreleased copyrighted material – YouTube has sided with HBO and removed his posts under the order of DMCA. HBO is yet to comment on the takedowns.
"Youtube will ALWAYS side with the accuser regardless of how many false claims they have made, there is no punishment for this," one Redditor wrote of the takedown in a discussion of copyright laws.
Despite no laws actually being broken, it seems HBO would rather keep fans in the dark.
