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Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

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Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#191

Post by Kye »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #162
seanthemon wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there was a time where the internet wasn't a corpo hellscape.

This kind of impersonation/defamation is one of the edge cases where its good to have a DMCA process. You want to quickly take down something like this and then deal with the slow legal stuff over time.

They have a DMCA process. As far as I know it only helps in a case like this if they sue Funko or the brand management service. Itch is a small indie operation funded by actual commerce, so might not be able to afford it.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#193

Post by pdpi »

CaptainFever wrote: post #101
leafo wrote: 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…

I find that businesses that bill themselves as ${TOOL}-users instead of ${PROBLEM}-solvers are, as a general rule, problematic. I couldn't possibly care any less whether a product is built on AI or a clever switch statement or a bazillion little gnomes doing the work by hand. I care that it solves a problem.

AI does need to die. Not so much because LLMs are bad, but rather because, like "big data" and "blockchain" and many other buzzwordy tools before it, it is a solution looking for a problem.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#194

Post by paxys »

nicwest wrote: post #154
oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So one post with 3 shares. Humanity is doomed!

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#195

Post by pdpi »

concerndc1tizen wrote: post #187
breakingcups wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Filing false reports like this should count as fraud.

I.e. as a crime rather than just a civic tort? I agree.

As general rule, I find that sort of thing to be an over-reaction, but submitting a complaint for phishing instead of a plain old DMCA takedown does warrant it.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#196

Post by egorfine »

0x073 wrote: post #185
egorfine wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not optimal, but the registrar had to choose between every registered domain there and one business. But yes, no doubt, that system is broken and the registrar should have known better.

I don't know the company size, but as a paying customer I expect them better support and more time. If they have a customer like steam would they just cut off the domain? Probably not. Other domain registrations would just ignored this and nothing would happened.

> I expect them better support

I expect total ignorance from a typical domain registrar.

> If they have a customer like steam would they just cut off the domain? Probably not.

Take a look who is they registrar and then look their prices up.

> Other domain registrations would just ignored this and nothing would happened

Yeah, they would totally ignore their customer just like that one did.

Unfortunately, providing proper support and protecting own customers in digital realm is an unsustainable business practice for most registrars.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#197

Post by pdpi »

RichEO wrote: post #111
PostOnce wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is the kind of advice a good lawyer would give. BrandShield, Funko, and iwantmyname all caused serious financial harm through, at a minimum, tortious negligence. I'm not a lawyer, but even a yokel like me knows there's more to this legally than a shrug and "the software did it".

It’s clear that you’re not a lawyer, because if you were you’d know that there’s no established duty of care between BrandShield and web masters.

Sounds like a pretty straightforward case of tortious interference, actually.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#198

Post by pera »

klez wrote: post #147
RichEO wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s clear that you’re not a lawyer, because if you were you’d know that there’s no established duty of care between BrandShield and web masters.

Clearly I'm not a lawyer either, but isn't accusing someone of doing something that is not true and that can have legal ramification a suable behavior in the US?

According to this no one has ever been prosecuted just for sending false DMCA takedown notices:

https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/51541/has-anyone-bee...

They do mention a case where the defendant acted in bad faith and was found liable for damages though.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#199

Post by paxys »

leafo wrote: 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…

> Because of this, I honestly think they're the malicious actor in all of this.

While I agree, the people who hired them are equally culpable. You don't get to wash your hands of the mess just because someone else is doing your dirty work.

Re: Itch.io Taken Down by Funko

#200

Post by jstanley »

TZubiri wrote: post #15
ailurooo wrote: post #2

ugh this kind of stuff just makes me wish DNS was less centralized, even though it's already incredibly uncentralized.. of course it's just all registrars just being a weak point.. as always

It is as decentralized as you can get. Dns is the entire foundation of decentralization, any more and you get into schizo hyperprivacy protocols.

So, it's not as decentralised as you can get, you just personally don't like decentralisation?
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