Indie games site Itch.io temporarily taken down by Funko, due to 'AI-powered' brand protection company that 'created some bogus phishing report'
Itch.io, a website used to host a heap of games—primarily self-published indie projects—was taken down briefly this morning (or over the weekend, depending on time zones) thanks to, uh, Funko of Funko Pop infamy. I'm about as confused as you, and the site's creator Leafo, are.
As posted to both Bluesky and X, the site was «taken down by Funko of 'Funko Pop' because they use some trash 'AI Powered' Brand Protection Software called Brand Shield that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain.»
Itch.io later clarified that it «did take the disputed page down as soon as we got the notice because it's not worth fighting stuff like that. Regardless, our registrar's automated system likely kicked [in] to disable the domain since no one read our confirmation of removal.»
If you're curious about BrandShield, it's an AI-powered «solution» to things like phishing attempts, fraudulent websites and, with relevance to this specific case, «brand protection». While it's borderline impossible to pierce through the thick fog of business-speak (the world «holistic» is thrown around a bunch) to find a promise that BrandShield actually has people who know what they're doing vetting these takedown requests, the site's page on brand protection describes the specifics of its zealotry.
«You will expose your brand to online attacks if you only protect your registered domain. Make sure to also protect yourself from external digital threats and monitor these important elements,» the site states, before listing «visuals of both company logos and product images» and «written and recorded content» as risk factors.
As for the page in question, Itch.io's creator breaks it down in a thread on Hacker News: «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
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