Star Wars: The Force Awakens will not be available to download legally until April 1, but that not stopping pirates (not of the Han Solo variety, mind) getting their grubby little paws on the box office mega smash.
Almost inevitably, a ripped copy of the forthcoming Blu-ray release has appeared on torrent sites and it’s already being sought after like a secret map to Luke Skywalker.
According to TorrentFreak (via Engadget), the file has been downloaded a quarter of a million times in just 12 hours since appearing on sites like Kickass Torrents and Pirate Bay.
As TorrentFreak points out there are dozens of copies already available, so there really isn’t a lot Disney can do about it at this stage.
Along with the file, the original leak artist posted an image of the disc (see above), which appears to be a retail copy.
See also: Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens first impressions
The leak of the official HD copy comes after Disney and Lucasfilm struggled to remove copies which were shot on a camcorder or smartphone in the theatre.
Disney now faces the loss of millions in revenue from those who may have bought the digital copy or the Blu-ray which arrives on April 5.
However, seeing as the movie grossed an all-time high of over $2 billion at the box office alone, the firm can surely put this minor mishap down to a little collateral damage.
(apester:56b8851e180dad85056ae1be)
Have you torrented The Force Awakens yet? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
