FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2015 file photo, actress Laverne Cox attends the "Orange Is the New Black" FYC Screening at DGA Theater in New York. A hacker claims to have stolen the upcoming season of Netflix's... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2015 file photo, actress Laverne Cox attends the "Orange Is the New Black" FYC Screening at DGA Theater in New York. A hacker claims to have stolen the upcoming season of Netflix's... (Associated Press) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A hacker claims to have stolen the upcoming season of Netflix's hit series "Orange Is The New Black," and is demanding that the video streaming service pay an unspecified ransom to prevent all the new episodes from being prematurely released online. 
 
 The hacker, operating under the name The Dark Overlord, has already purportedly uploaded the first episode to an illegal file-sharing service. The Associated Press could not legally confirm the authenticity of that uploaded file. 
 
 New episodes of "Orange" are scheduled for official release on June 9. 
 
 Netflix said that a small production vendor that works with several major TV studios had suffered a breach. The Los Gatos, California, company described it as an "active situation" that's being investigated by the FBI and other authorities. 
 
 Pirated copies of "Orange" could dent Netflix's subscriber growth and the company's stock price. 
 
 In the ransom note, The Dark Overlord claimed to have stolen series from other studios, too, by breaking into a single company. The purported hacker promised to also release those titles unless "modest" ransoms are paid. 
 
 Rumors of a massive leak of Hollywood films and TV episodes have been circulating online for months, fed by purported screenshots of the footage and a copy of a proposed deal to delete the stolen material in return for tens of thousands of dollars in electronic currency. 
 
 When the AP contacted The Dark Overlord in February, the hacker said the purloined video wouldn't be made publicly available after all, making the far-fetched claim that "no one really (cares) about unreleased movies and TV show episodes." 
 
 It's not clear what triggered The Dark Overload's renewed ransom demands. 
 
 Netflix is counting on "Orange" to help it add 3.2 million subscribers from April through June. That's substantially higher than the company's average gain of 1.8 million subscribers in the same period over the past five years. 
 
 Whenever Netflix's quarterly subscriber gains fall short of management's projections, the company's stock usually plunges. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Raphael Satter in Paris contributed to this story. ||||| An anonymous hacker has carried through on a threat to release “Orange Is the New Black” season five episodes online — after Netflix allegedly failed to respond to the cybercriminal’s shakedown demands. 
 
 Variety was unable to verify the authenticity of the “OITNB” episodes the hacker claimed to have shared on popular file-sharing site the Pirate Bay. 
 
 The first 10 episodes of season 5 were apparently shared shortly before 6 a.m. ET Saturday, with the 10 files comprising a total of 11.46 gigabytes. The hacker, who uses the handle “thedarkoverlord,” published the premiere episode from the upcoming season of “Orange Is the New Black” on Friday to the Pirate Bay. 
 
 Netflix has set June 9 for the release of season five of “Orange Is the New Black.” It’s possible that the streamer will move up the “OITNB” premiere date now that the bulk of the episodes have leaked. 
 
 Reps for Netflix did not respond to a request for comment about the latest development. 
 
 According to “thedarkoverlord,” the hacker or hackers also have obtained unreleased shows from ABC, Fox, National Geographic and IFC. The content appears to have been stolen in an attack on post-production studio Larson Studios in late 2016, according to piracy-news site TorrentFreak. “Thedarkoverlord” explained in an online post that they obtained only the first 10 of the 13 episodes of “OITNB” season 5 because the cyberattack was carried out before the final three installments were available. 
 
 Related Netflix Hacker Also Claims Theft From ABC, Fox, IFC, National Geographic 
 
 In a statement Friday, Netflix said: “We are aware of the situation. A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved.” 
 
 It’s not clear what impact the theft and piracy of one of Netflix’s top shows will have. The hacker (or hacker collective) behind the heist has claimed to have made an extortion demand to the company, asking for an unspecified sum of money. However, the motive for purloining and leaking “OITNB” could be more about bragging rights in the cybercrime underworld. 
 
 In a message posted early Saturday, “thedarkoverlord” was arrogant and even scolding. 
 
 “It didn’t have to be this way, Netflix. You’re going to lose a lot more money in all of this than what our modest offer was,” the hacker wrote. “We’re quite ashamed to breathe the same air as you. We figured a pragmatic business such as yourselves would see and understand the benefits of cooperating with a reasonable and merciful entity like ourselves.” 
 
 The hacker concluded the diatribe with an explicit threat to the other networks whose TV shows were allegedly stolen: “And to the others: there’s still time to save yourselves. Our offer(s) are still on the table — for now.” 
 
 Netflix last year renewed “OITNB,” which execs have said has been consistently its most-watched original series, for seasons 5, 6 and 7. Creator and showrunner Jenji Kohan signed on for all the upcoming seasons of the show, produced by Lionsgate TV and based on the 2010 memoir by Piper Kerman.
– A hacker going by The Dark Overlord claims to have stolen and released 10 episodes of the new season of Orange Is the New Black more than a month before its official release on Netflix. Variety reports the hacker was demanding an unspecified ransom from Netflix, uploading the first episode of the upcoming fifth season to a file-sharing site Friday as proof. The next nine episodes were uploaded early Saturday morning after The Dark Overlord claims Netflix refused to pay them. The hacker says they're "quite ashamed to breathe the same air" as Netflix, as they were being entirely "reasonable and merciful" with their ransom offer. Neither Variety nor the AP have been able to—legally—confirm the authenticity of the episodes uploaded by The Dark Overlord. The new Orange Is the New Black episodes were apparently stolen months ago. Netflix says a production vendor "had its security compromised"; Variety identifies that vendor as Larson Studios, a post-production facility. The Dark Overlord says they weren't able to steal the final three episodes of the season because they weren't finished yet. The Dark Overlord told the AP in February they wouldn't release any of the stolen episodes; it's unclear why that changed. The hacker also claims to have stolen TV series from ABC, National Geographic, Fox, and IFC via the hack at Larson Studios. They're reportedly seeking a "modest" ransom for those as well. The leak of new Orange is the New Black episodes could hurt Neflix's subscriber numbers and stock price. The FBI is investigating.