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Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

bsky.app

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Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#151
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iwantmyname was bought out by a conglomerate, “Team Internet[1]”, a few years ago. Prices went up, service went down. I’d recommend moving your domains when you can (Porkbun have been good, though I haven’t had any incidents like this). Best of luck! 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Internet

Pro-tip: raise your prices before you need to sell your service to cover expenses

https://domainincite.com/24614-centralnic-to-pay-3-4-million...

I appreciated the indie feel as well, but I can't blame someone for selling out to the tune of 7 figures when the opportunity arises.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#152
post #122

[flagged]

Going directly to the registrar in response to an issue on a handful of pages is akin to getting the wrong change, saying nothing to the person on the checkout, then seeking out the store manager to get them fired.

It's like going straight to the police, who then charge the employee. The employee is convicted and can't get a job because of the criminal record.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#153
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting - most Bluesky accounts, especially those related to gaming, are reporting higher engagement stats on Bluesky, at least relatively if not absolutely.

[flagged]

Oh, they've made it to bluesky now as well, unfortunately.

(Though, if you use a moderation service which flags/hides accounts with AI generated imagery, that's close to 100% effective for catching crypto scam stuff. Apparently, your average crypto scammer just can't resist a bit of AI-generated banner.)

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. It's a normalization of murder as a way to seek redress.

You've seen death threats on Bluesky aimed at the CEO over this?

https://bsky.app/profile/karmn.bsky.social/post/3lcuc4dqudc2...

It's hard for me to read this any other way.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#155
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iwantmyname was bought out by a conglomerate, “Team Internet[1]”, a few years ago. Prices went up, service went down. I’d recommend moving your domains when you can (Porkbun have been good, though I haven’t had any incidents like this). Best of luck! 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Internet

Oh damn, I didn't know this! I've used their services for ages and even got to briefly meet the founders once in Wellington who gave a talk on Erlang. Ah well, while it sucks that the good times may be over, I'm glad the founders got their exit :)

> I'm glad the founders got their exit

I'm not.

I mean, I am happy for them but this concept of growing a business to an exit is not going well for society as a whole (at least the exits that are in my areas of interest, so I assume it extrapolates to all exits).

Every single business that gets bought out gets instantly enshittified in one way or another, always to the detriment of the customer. Depending on how entrenched it was it takes a different amount of time for people to move on as the new shareholders extract its economical value, but it almost always destroys societal value in the process as the company becomes a shadow of its former self (and hopefully dies, leaving way for the cycle to start again).

I wish there was a way for founders to get rich without the need for an exit, so the business could keep running... but I guess ruthless enshittification is the only way to get rich?

Apologies for the tangent, this is something that's been bouncing in my mind for a while...

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#156
post #31

I'm the one running itch.io, so here's some more context for you: From what I can tell, some person made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game. The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all "unauthorized" use of their trademark, so they sent reports independently to our host and registrar claiming there was "fraud…

I really wish BrandShield didn't use AI as a marketing term. It just looks like it's doing a generic ctrl-F on webpages? Then things like this happen, and people think "ooh AI is bad, the bubble must burst" when this has nothing to do with that in the first place, and the real issue was that they sent a "fraud/phishing report" rather than a "trademark infringement" report. Then I also wish that people who knew better…

> and people think "ooh AI is bad, the bubble must burst" when this has nothing to do with that in the first place

That haphazard branding and parroting is exactly why the bubble needs to burst. Bubbles bursting take out the gritters and rarely actually kills off all the innovation in the scene (it kills a lot, though. I'm not trying to dismiss that).

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#158
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iwantmyname was bought out by a conglomerate, “Team Internet[1]”, a few years ago. Prices went up, service went down. I’d recommend moving your domains when you can (Porkbun have been good, though I haven’t had any incidents like this). Best of luck! 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Internet

Oh damn, I didn't know this! I've used their services for ages and even got to briefly meet the founders once in Wellington who gave a talk on Erlang. Ah well, while it sucks that the good times may be over, I'm glad the founders got their exit :)

Yeah I was a fan, had every domain with them that I could! But once they were acquired their .org renewal prices just did not make sense any more, and they were missing some functionality that I thought was crucial and didn't seem inclined to add it (can't remember what it was now, maybe MFA).

Domains are like car insurance – there's no reward for loyalty, so makes sense to shop around come renewal time.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#159
post #31

I'm the one running itch.io, so here's some more context for you: From what I can tell, some person made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game. The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all "unauthorized" use of their trademark, so they sent reports independently to our host and registrar claiming there was "fraud…

> I had removed the page and disabled the account

Did this account violate your ToS or the actual law? While I totally understand where are you coming from and I would probably be forced to do the same, I still tend to believe that closing a fan account is exactly the same thing that your registrar did to you.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#160
post #27

How many other domains were knocked off by this AI reporting? Seems to me that if you make claims that have business repercussions, you need to be suable for fraud and face civil and possible criminal complaints.

Criminal seems like a stretch (at least for this sort of damaging-a-business stuff), but making false claims can absolutely have all sorts of civil consequences.
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