The makers of the anticipated third season of HBO's epic fantasy series, Game of Thrones say downloaders have little chance of acquiring episodes through torrents. How will fans react to this?

Since it started airing in April 2011, the popularity of the show, Game of Thrones, has been spreading like wildfire all over the world. Adapted from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice and its following books, the show attracts both fantasy and drama fans because of the crossover plot it presents.

For its second season, Game of Thrones was the most downloaded and pirated show of 2012, with users relying on torrent sites and clients to stay up-to-date for latest episodes. For the second season, 4.28 million downloads per episode are estimated, as stated by the Hollywood Reporter.

While not too happy about the show being pirated, HBO thinks that it is indeed their fault that the show is easily available to download. They say they do not focus on the security that should be surrounding the release of each episode

Jeff Cusson, HBO's Vice President of corporate affairs, has a solution for fans who wish to watch the episode immediately if they missed the station airing.

"We think the key to combatting piracy is to make the content like 'Game of Thrones' available worldwide within the smallest window possible... to 176 territories within the week of the U.S. premiere. HBO is also rolling out HBO Go internationally." told Cusson to Forbes.com.

How will fans react to this surprise now that the chances of getting free and easily downloadable Game of Thrones episodes are slimmer this time?

Of course, there will still be some uploaders or torrent users that will seep through the cracks and be able to share GOT season 3 episodes, but it will be definite that downloaders will have a hard time getting clear episodes as easy as before.

"I suppose it's a bit of a backhanded compliment, isn't it?" claims actress, Rose Leslie, to Access Hollywood when asked how she felt about starring in the most pirated show of 2012.

"I don't think HBO will be too happy, but yes, one way or another that's a huge compliment. Not just to me but to the whole show." adds Leslie, who plays Ygritte in the show.

Hollywood