

Just because Syfy doesn’t want to air the remaining episodes of “Caprica” right now doesn’t mean resourceful fans can’t get their hands on them.

The problem is, it ain’t legal.

The now-cancelled “Battlestar Galactica” spinoff is earning some attention its predecessor got back in 2004 when a deal between the newly created NBC Universal and Sky One put the first season of “Battlestar Galactica” on British television first, making American audiences wait until later.

That move introduced many Americans to torrent sites, areas where they could illegally download a digital copy of an episode captured by someone else. Before 2004, it was a practice more popular in Europe and Asia, where American and foreign programming would come months — sometimes years — after its original air. But putting the first episodes of BSG up across the pond blew that market up even wider.

Torrents, despite studios’ and law enforcement’s best efforts to crack down, has forced many networks to rethink distribution strategies, to keep piracy at a minimum. In fact, BBC — with the extreme popularity of “Doctor Who” among genre fans in America — had to move its American distribution efforts far closer to its original BBC broadcast. That meant in situations like last year’s Christmas and New Year’s specials that said good-bye to series star David Tennant, airing within 48 hours of its BBC broadcast on BBC America.

Syfy, however, doesn’t seem overly concerned about piracy when it comes to “Caprica.” The network has delayed airing the remaining five episodes until next year, giving Americans their first legal chance to watch the episodes at Christmas when “Caprica” Season 1.5 is released on DVD.

Although Syfy’s parent, NBC Universal, owns the rights to “Caprica,” it has not stopped international distribution of the show, meaning English versions of the show are popping up on illegal torrent sites — mostly as digital captures from the Canadian cable channel Space. That network has now aired three of the final five episodes, including the most recent — “The Heavens Will Rise” — Tuesday night.

No figures on the number of downloads taking place through pirate sites are available, but one aggregator showed at least 1,000 seeders for one of its unaired American episodes. However, that same aggregator did not list “Caprica” in its current top 100.

Airlock Alpha doesn’t name bit torrent sites because it will not promote piracy, an illegal act that counts as theft against the people and studios that create and finance the material.