Crime doesn’t pay, and apparently neither does Netflix, as evidenced by their refusal to pay the bitcoin extortion demand of a hacker or hacking group calling themselves “thedarkoverlord.” On May 1, Arstechnica.com reported that hackers had stolen nine of the thirteen episodes of the Netflix series Orange is the New Black (Season 5) from Larsen Studios, an audio post-production company. The attackers also claim to have accessed 36 other television series and one film. Originally, “thedarkoverlord” attempted to extort Larsen Studios for 50 bitcoins (approximately $45,000 at the time) and set a January deadline. However, when the deadline passed, they moved on to extorting Netflix and other production companies instead.
When Netflix failed to respond by April 29, “thedarkoverlord” posted links on Twitter to torrents of the OITNB episodes, along with a message claiming to possess additional content belonging to Netflix, ABC, National Geographic, Fox, and IFC. According to a report by Parrot Analytics, the posting of the episodes resulted in a 40% spike in demand for the series, though their expectations are that demand will drop prior to the June 9 official release date. Although the breach generated a substantial amount of press for the Netflix show, the mere occurrence of the breach and the intellectual properties affected will likely result in consequential legal and financial headaches for all companies involved.
