Netflix 4K Content Leaked to Torrent Sites

Netflix has been phasing in 4K content since last year, and industrious pirates have now found a way to circumvent the video streaming site’s copy protection. Netflix’s Ultra HD version of Breaking Bad’s first episode – the one file alone is nearly 18 gigabytes – has hit torrent sites this week, with more Netflix 4K rips expected in the near future.

Before the leak of the first episode of Breaking Bad from Netflix’s 4K catalogue, the High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP) version 2.2 (or higher) encryption used to protect the Ultra HD content was considered uncrackable. Now this has been proven untrue, it’s only a matter of time before a torrent of 4K TV shows and movies hit your favourite pirate sites. It has not yet been revealed whether HDCP has been truly cracked, or simply bypassed.

A pirate group known as “iON” are responsible for the 2160p Breaking Bad leak, which clocks in at 17.73GB, approximately 50 times the size of its standard definition equivalent. It’s only available on private torrent trackers for the time being, but the file is expected to leak to public sites soon.

“Piracy is a global problem. We, like others content providers, are actively working on ways to protect content featured on our site,” a Netflix spokesperson told TorrentFreak.

Thank you TorrentFreak for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of Digital Trends.