'Game of Thrones': First Four Episodes Leak Online Before Premiere

Internet pirates are having a good day today; HBO is not.

The first four episodes of "Game of Thrones" season 5 have leaked online, showing up on torrent sites hours before tonight's premiere. Already, fans have started downloading and watching the episodes through illegal means.

It's especially bad news for HBO as the premium network had worked to get their standalone service, HBO Now, available before the "Game of Thrones" premiere so that those who don't have cable could still watch with the rest of the cable crowd.

"Game of Thrones" is already the most pirated series on television, with millions of illegal downloads happening for each episode. The amount of piracy had increased in recent weeks as viewers attempted to get caught up before the season 5 premiere.

Other than a potential hit to ratings and to HBO Now subscriptions, HBO faces another possible problem: spoilers. Already, fans who pirates the new episodes have started posting spoilers online, ruining the experience for fans who are aiming to watch the episodes legally as they're released over the next four weeks.

HBO has not yet responded officially to the leak, and it remains to be seen whether the network will decide to release the leaked episodes early to fans via HBO Go and HBO Now in order to provide fans with legal means of avoiding spoilers.