Hackers are holding up Netflix at the moment, and they have Season 5 of Orange Is The New Black. What began as a threat with a side of extortion has quickly escalated, and now a majority of the new season has been leaked online well ahead of its June 9th premiere. Here's what we know so far regarding this crazy situation.
A hacker organization going under the name of "The Dark Overlord" hacked major production vendor Larson Studios, which is used by several television networks. Once they got the content, The Dark Overlord contacted Netflix claiming they had Season 5 of Orange Is The New Black. The organization attempted to extort the streaming giant for money, and posted episode one of the series online to show they did indeed have the product. When Netflix went public and announced the hack, Engadget is reporting the hacker organization released a statement that they have now released episodes two through ten.
With only thirteen episodes in the season, Netflix is going to have to decide whether or not they will pay the organization, let law enforcement track them down, or risk the rest of the season hitting the web with a little over a month before its release.
Netflix isn't the only network that has to worry, as it appears The Dark Overlord also swiped a lot of shows from other networks as well. ABC, FOX, IFC, and National Geographic have content that is now in the possession of the hacker organization. While nothing public has been announced in regards to what specific content they have, it seems that The Dark Overlord has emailed the companies and offered them an opportunity to pay for the stolen copies before they are leaked. Now that they haven't gotten money from Netflix, The Dark Overlord's latest statement teases that Netflix should go ahead and release Season 5 of Orange Is The New Black before they release the final three episodes for them. Beyond their official statement announcing that the authorities have been contacted, Netflix has given no update as to what they will do.
Something tells me this won't end well for The Dark Overlord. Hackers historically win the day in the short term of these big time heists, but time and time again we read about their capture sometimes as late as a year after the event. Keep an eye on your Netflix to see if the company does decide to release Season 5 of Orange Is The New Black ahead of schedule, as what little we've seen in promos looks great. If not, expect to see Season 5 premiere June 9th as listed in our summer premiere guide.
As for your other shows, make sure you're keeping tabs on our renewal guide to make sure your favorite shows are safe!
