Pirates have finally cracked the 4K copy protection on Netflix, and have leaked the first episode of "Breaking Bad" online, according to TorrentFreak. 

The ultra-high-definition "Breaking Bad" episode was almost 18 GB in size. 

Though 4K streaming titles have been available for quite some time on sites like Netflix and Amazon, they had previously been safe from pirates.  In fact, until this leak, many believed it was currently “impossible” to break High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP). 

Now this new rip suggests that conventional wisdom could be set to change dramatically. 

Until now, the only pirated 4K content available online has been a few mainstream releases and “adult” productions, according to TorrentFreak.  This leak might signal a flood of more popular titles to the internet torrent sphere. 

The media info for the Breaking Bad episode lists the bit rate at 41.3 Mbps, and one should bear in mind that it could be difficult to watch this episode on the average computer today.  But 4K video seems to be moving to the forefront of the tech industry’s mind, with rumors that the iPhone 6S will support it.  And it looks like the future will include more pirated 4K video. 

Netflix told TorrentFreak that they were investigating the leak and would try to prevent similar breaches in the future. “ Piracy is a global problem,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “ We, like others content providers, are actively working on ways to protect content featured on our site.” 

We have reached out to Netflix for comment.