Pirated copy of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 used to hold Disney to ransom

Just a couple of weeks since a leak of season five of Orange is the New Black was held to ransom, the same is now happening with the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Yesterday Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that hackers had stolen one of the company's movies, and it has since transpired that it is the upcoming Johnny Depp flick.

Subtitled "Dead Men Tell No Tales", Pirates of the Caribbean 5 is due to hit the big screen next week, and hackers are demanding a ransom from Disney to avert a leak ahead of the official launch. This is the latest move in the world of piracy that shows a marked shift from the previous aim of release groups simply wanting to be the first to push out a decent quality rip of a movie.

Rather than being about the glory -- although this does still very much exist -- even the world of movie leaks has been monetized. Or at least, that's what's being attempted. Disney is refusing to play ball, saying it will not pay the ransom demanded of it. The hackers are asking that the ransom be paid in Bitcoins, but Disney is working with the FBI to find those responsible.

Just as TheDarkOverlord threatened to release Orange is the New Black, so the Pirates of the Caribbean 5 hackers are threatening to leak the movie in increments. This is a slightly strange thing to suggest for a movie, and no snippets -- apart from official previews -- have yet appeared online. With a release date of May 25, there's still a week and a half for Disney to give in, or for the leakers to make Dead Men Tell No Tales available on popular torrent sites, We'll just have to wait to see who gives in first.