Netflix hunting down leaker who shared advance pics and footage from Arcane, Squid Game, more

Earlier this year, someone calling themselves Jace Johnson (which is not their real name, as they admitted in an interview) leaked a bunch of footage and pictures from then-upcoming Netflix shows in what they called "the worst leak in streaming history." The leak included episodes from shows like Arcane, Heartstopper, and Terminator Zero. Now, the company is on the hunt to find exactly who the leaker person is.

To that end, they've filed a subpoena in the United State District Court for the Northern District of Californiia in an attempt to get instant messaging platform Discord, where Johnson had an account, to reveal information about them. Documents filed along with the subpoena mention a copyrighted, unreleased image from the upcoming second season of Squid Game, Netflix's most popular show.

As Polygon points out, this isn't the same thing as Netflix filing a lawsuit; at this point, Netflix probably doesn't know who it would even file against, but it's trying to change that. Johnson had several social media accounts including at Discord under the name @jacejohns4n, all of which have either been deleted or suspended.

It's also hard to say whether Netflix will be successful in its hunt, although it does have some clues to work off. We know that Johnson obtained the episodes and images from a localization firm located in California called Iyuno, which also counts Amazon Studios, BBC, Disney, HBO, and DreamWorks among its clients. "A friend of mine worked for a company called iyuno and I somehow got access to their database then I Leaked those shows/movies on 4chan before posting them on Twitter," Johnson previously admitted.

You know that was an awkward few days in the Iyuno offices. If they tracked down whoever Johnson's friend within the company is, that person is fired. But if they had, Netflix might not need to compel Discord to give them information about the leaker, so I imagine the inside man is still walking free, keeping their head as low as possible.

There have been lots of leaks of upcoming TV shows over the past few years, most of them down to human error like in this case. Obviously the studios hate it, but it remains to be seen if there's a reliable way to stop it. We'll see how far Netflix gets.

Title for the season 2 premiere of Squid Game revealed (officially)

Netflix itself has just revealed the title of the Squid Game season 2 premiere: "Bread and Lottery."

The first thing I think of when I hear that is the phrase "bread and circuses," a tactic they would use in ancient Rome to keep the masses occupied. Basically: if you give the people food and entertainment, they'll be distracted enough not to rise up against the corrupt ruling class. Squid Game, as you're probably aware, is about people so down on their luck and indebted that they're willing to put their lives on the line to play a series of deadly games against each other in hopes of winning a massive pile of prize money, all for the entertainment of the billionaires who have set this system up. There's probably something there.

The second season of Squid Game will drop on Netflix on December 26. A third season will wrap up the series next year.

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