Online Pirates Seize New Homeland Episode

The illicit copy is missing open credits, a few special effects and possibly a final round of edits

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Actors Claire Danes and Damian Lewis speak onstage during the "Homeland" panel discussion at the CBS, Showtime and The CW portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 29, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California.

Internet denizens have managed to get their hands on a pirated copy of the first episode of Homeland, Season 3, one month before it premieres on Showtime. The episode, snatched up and copied by 100,00 users of the BitTorrent network, is missing the opening credits and a few special effects (an actor’s voice is dubbed in one scene). It also bears a striking resemblance to an unfinished copy that was sent to members of the Television Critics Association in July, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Showtime has remained tight-lipped on the incident, but an article in Variety notes that television execs have historically been entangled in a love-hate relationship with leakers. Time Warner executive Jeff Bewkes dismissed stolen episodes of Game of Thrones with a shrug, arguing that it at least spreads awareness through word-of-mouth.

[Sydney Morning Herald]