{"id":1060314,"date":"2026-01-20T01:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=492791"},"modified":"2026-01-20T01:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:02:51","slug":"itch-io-says-it-was-taken-down-by-funko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/itch-io-says-it-was-taken-down-by-funko\/","title":{"rendered":"itch.io says it was taken down by Funko"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/itch-io-says-it-was-taken-down-by-funko.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">itch.io spent hours completely offline on Sunday night \u2014 and the indie game marketplace placed the blame on an automated takedown generated on behalf of Funko, maker of the Funko Pop collectable figurines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">\u201cI kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko,\u201d the site <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/itchio\/status\/1866017758040993829\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/itchio\/status\/1866017758040993829\">posted to X<\/a> in the early hours of Monday morning. itch.io said Funko uses \u201csome trash \u2018AI Powered\u2019 Brand Protection Software\u201d that generated a \u201cbogus Phishing report\u201d about the itch.io site.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I kid you not, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itchio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@itchio<\/a> has been taken down by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OriginalFunko?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OriginalFunko<\/a> because they use some trash &quot;AI Powered&quot; Brand Protection Software called <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrandShieldltd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BrandShieldltd<\/a> that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iwantmyname?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@iwantmyname<\/a>, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; itch.io (@itchio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itchio\/status\/1866017758040993829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">This report was sent to itch.io\u2019s domain registrar iwantmyname, which went ahead and disabled the site. This action was also likely taken by an \u201cautomated system,\u201d itch.io said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">itch.io claimed to have taken down the \u201cdisputed page\u201d that triggered the phishing report immediately on receiving the takedown notice, but said no-one at iwantmyname appeared to have read the email confirming the page\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Contacted for comment by Polygon, an iwantmyname representative said, \u201cThe domain name was already reinstated earlier today after the registrant finally responded to our notice and took appropriate action to resolve the issue.\u201d At the time iwantmyname\u2019s reply was sent, itch.io appeared to have been back online for less than 40 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">itch.io came back online between 5 and 6 a.m. EST on Monday morning, after at least three hours during which it was completely offline for most users, including both players and developers who use the open platform. Games and other products already bought from itch.io could be used without issue, but the storefront outage will have been a significant problem for creators who use it for distribution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The software allegedly used by Funko that took the itch.io site down is made by a company called BrandShield. BrandShield describes itself as an \u201cAI-powered online anti-counterfeiting solution\u201d that monitors for \u201ctrademark infringements, phishing attempts, brand abuse, and counterfeit activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Polygon has asked itch.io and Funko for comment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/gaming\/492791\/itch-io-funko-takedown\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>itch.io spent hours completely offline on Sunday night \u2014 and the indie game marketplace placed the blame on an automated takedown generated on behalf of Funko, maker of the Funko Pop collectable figurines. \u201cI kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko,\u201d the site posted to X in the early hours of Monday morning. itch.io said Funko uses \u201csome trash \u2018AI Powered\u2019 Brand Protection Software\u201d that generated a \u201cbogus Phishing report\u201d about the itch.io site. I kid you not, @itchio has been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash &quot;AI Powered&quot; Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain &mdash; itch.io (@itchio) December 9, 2024&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/itch-io-says-it-was-taken-down-by-funko\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1060315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1060314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>itch.io 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