Is the "House of Cards" season 3 leak a mere publicity stunt?

With the season officially starting on Feb. 27, subscribers were able to stream about 30 minutes worth of "House of Cards" season 3 from Netflix.

The Guardian said that people got to thinking that the "House of Cards" season 3 leak was intentional on the part of Netflix.

"The official reason they gave was a system glitch, but some think this is advance marketing to get people talking about the show. Director Rod Blackhurst tweeted, 'You think Netflix accidentally leaked season 3 of House of Cards? That's called marketing. Now you're all talking about it. They win,'" the article said.

Julie Verhage, reporter for Fox Business, tweeted: "RT if you think @netflix leaked @HouseofCards Season 3 on purpose. Favorite if you think it was an honest mistake."

Most of her followers outnumbered 2 to 1 those who think that the "House of Cards" season 3 leak wasn't intentional.

In a statement, Netflix explained the leak: "Due to a technical glitch some Frank Underwood fans got a sneak peak. He'll be back on Netflix on Feb. 27."

The "House of Cards" Twitter account said: "This is Washington. There's always a leak. All 13 episodes will launch February 27."

However, the Guardian said that unlike most networks, Netflix has a very different business model

"They don't need everyone to watch 'House of Cards' on the 27th so they can sell advertising," it said. "They don't need a giant premiere to make it look like a hit or huge ratings to make more money. In fact, they don't release ratings data at all."

The article said that Netflix doesn't need to leak "House of Cards" season 3, it just had to make sure to increase or sustain subscription at the end of the month, whether or not subscribers watch Frank Underwood or not doesn't matter.