ONLINE STREAMS of Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 4 “The Spoils Of War” have surfaced across the web, following a devastating leak ahead of the episode’s official air date this weekend.

HBO has sent warning letters to those caught streaming Game Of Thrones episodes online for free
Game Of Thrones has suffered another devastating leak online.

The fourth episode of the current season – entitled “The Spoils Of War” – has been distributed online via a Google Drive link.

Links to the video file have been quickly taken down, users have reported.

Threads dedicated to linking to the as-yet unaired Game Of Thrones episode have been shutdown on social news site Reddit.

The leaked episode includes a For Internal Viewing Only watermark, as well as the logo of HBO distribution partner, Star India.

According to The Verge, the Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 4 leak was not the result of the HBO hack earlier this month.

The leaked episode – which is fairly low quality – was obtained from Star India’s website.

Star India has been handling distribution of HBO content in India since 2015.

A spokesperson for the company told The Verge: “This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon.

“We take this breach very seriously and have immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause.

“This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action.”

Game Of Thrones is no stranger to piracy, with the fantasy drama consistently topping the list of most illegally downloaded shows of the year since 2011.

HBO, the US television network behind Game Of Thrones, is purportedly taking action against online pirates.

According to reports, the premium television network is now tracking the IP address of users who stream free episodes of the hit fantasy drama.

An IP address (Internet Protocol) is a number assigned to each internet-enabled device when it connects to the network. It’s used to identify and locate the device.

According to a report by piracy-focused blog TorrentFreak, HBO is now tracking the IP address of users who stream Game Of Thrones episodes online without permission from the rightsholder.

HBO has yet to take action on those tracked streaming episodes illegally online.

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In the past, UK pirates have received similar warnings from the Get It Right campaign
However, the US network is purportedly already sending out cease and desist-style notices.

“We have information leading us to believe that the IP address xx.xxx.xxx.xx was used to download or share Game of Thrones without authorisation,” the letter reads, TorrentFreak reports.

“HBO owns the copyright or exclusive rights to Game of Thrones, and the unauthorised download or distribution constitutes copyright infringement.

"Downloading unauthorised or unknown content is also a security risk for computers, devices, and networks."

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Links to the leaked episode of Game Of Thrones are being shared on Reddit and other forums
Those who streamed the show online are believed to have received comparable letters.

In the UK, Internet Service Providers, ISPs, including Virgin Media and Sky Broadband have also mailed-out advisory letters to those caught streaming illegally online.

The emails are part of a new campaign called Get It Right.

The campaign has a new website that provides answers to some of the most asked questions about torrents, peer-to-peer sharing, and copyright material.