'Thrones' is this year's most illegally downloaded show

The HBO swords and sauciness epic "Game of Thrones" has the dubious honor of being the most illegally downloaded TV show of the year so far. Figures from BitTorrent analysis firm Big Champagne reveal that Season 2 has been downloaded 25 million times. The downloading frenzy peaked after the April 30 episode, when episodes were coming down the pipe at a rate of 2.5 million per day. The show is also consistently among the top 100 on filesharing site, Pirate Bay. According to people who, like, know about this sort of thing, the propensity of the show's audience to download it illegally is because it a) holds appeal for younger male audiences (computer savvy, zitty, fans of exposed breasts) and b) HBO has made it difficult to get the show any other way (HBO's online service requires a cable subscription, out of reach for many younger potential viewers).