U.S. Ambassador: Stop Pirating Game of Thrones, Australia!

Jeffrey Bleich, the U.S. Ambassador to Australia, has sent out warning. It’s a matter of foreign policy. Serious stuff! Bleich doesn’t want Australians to pirate Game of Thrones.

On his official Facebook page, the one that actually says “Ambassador Bleich”, there is a post titled “Stopping the Game of Clones”. I have taken a screen-cap of it to prove that this actually happened.

“As the Ambassador here in Australia, it was especially troubling to find out that Australian fans were some of the worst offenders with among the highest piracy rates of Game of Thrones in the world,” wrote Ambassador Bleich. “While some people here used to claim that they used pirate sites only because of a delay in getting new episodes here, the show is now available from legitimate sources within hours of its broadcast in the United States.”

What prompted Bleich’s late night Facebook message? Earlier this week was the 17th annual UN World Book and Copyright Day. That, and the ambassador watches Game of Thrones with his family. He’s a fan, it seems.

“I realize that fans of Game of Thrones who have used illegal file-sharing sites have reasons,” continued Ambassador Bleich. “They will say it was much easier to access through these sites, or that they got frustrated by the delay in the first season, or their parents wouldn’t pay for a subscription, or they will complain about some other issue with copyright laws.”

Continuing, he added, “But none of those reasons is an excuse—stealing is stealing.”

This is swell and all, but doesn’t he have more important things to worry about than Australians pirating Game of Thrones? He is a U.S. Ambassador. Like, a real one, nominated by the President of the United States. And he’s talking about Game of Thrones on the internet. Your tax dollars at work!

Stopping the Game of Clones [Ambassador Bleich@Facebook via Twitch]