A toy company managed to completely dismantle an indie game storefront, according to Itch.io, whose website was down for half a day after an automated system disabled the domain. According to Itch.io's staff, Funko uses BrandShield, an AI brand protection software, which reported a potentially infringing page on the site to Itch.io's domain registrar, iwantmyname, who then took down the entire domain, without waiting for an appeal from the site owner. Itch.io claimed that the page in question was taken down the moment they got a takedown notice, but that iwantmyname ignored their confirmation that the content was already removed and disabled the site regardless. Eventually, the issue was resolved, and Itch.io is back up and functioning.

Source

 

[SylverReZ]

Nendoroids > Funkos

Nendoroids are owned by a different company, not by Funko themselves.

 

[Faust03]

Nendoroids are owned by a different company, not by Funko themselves.

I know, my point still stands lmao

 

[Jayro]

Nendoroids > Funkos

This. And I'm glad they listened to the backlash for the new crappy box design and reversed it. It would have turned the hobby into even more of a scammer's/bootlegger's paradise than it already is.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Why funko out of all companies?

 

[Bladexdsl]

more proof that ai will destroy us all in the end. it's already taking over the internet

 

[Izual Urashima]

This apparently isn't over yet.

 

[ZeroT21]

Funko doing shit thinking they're relevant in the industry

 

[SylverReZ]

Funko doing shit thinking they're relevant in the industry

Would've been funnier if Funko's site was taken offline by their AI tool. All of their ugly toys are irrelevant.

 

[sucrose1]

Funko disgusts me for many reasons, mainly for their absolutely hideous figurines, but more than that, all they make is plastic waste. No, I don't understand figurines, they're just a chunk of plastic.

Funko: Killing the planet, one ugly plastic figurine at a time.

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

funko more like fucko. fuckoff.

of course, i'm a badass, i buy useless plastic garbage that isn't funko

or someone get cheap carton official nintendo characters xD.More "baddas" feelings there xD

 

[OilFreak]

Quite the silly scenero. Now I know never to use iwantmyname.

 

[SaulFabre]

Most *literally STUPID* idea to protect a brand, website, or anything:

Using AI tools








Reminder: AI is NOT madurated enough... still. AI also can get wrong and have mistakes like us humans.

 

[Lodad]

Quite easily. the most simple answer is an AI model went to their site to train and killed it whilst trying to do so. This is actually a major problem on the internet at the moment. My website hit it's data cap super suddenly a bit back. Turns out some model went there and tried to train off all the content and used all the limited monthly data.

What a fun and exciting new way to get DDoSed!

The only thing I see of AI is scumbags using it trying to make a quick buck. I've had to manually sift through hundreds of AI slop channels telling youtube to not recommend them before it finally slowed down. If anything uses an AI voiceover I instantly shut it off. AI imagery and video is unbearable to look at. AI chat support on websites is a joke.

The sad thing is that it seems to work because that's all that floods my internet experience.

 

[BupDomic]

Man I had no idea... I mainly stick to statues! they feel more novel to have around the house

And don't forget YooTooz. They never paid the creators any money and have deceived their fans.

 

[jesus96]

These garbage toys doing shit

 

[Viri]

Plastic waste the company, lol.

Spoiler

Also, I own two Amiibos, Ness and Silver Mario. I don't know why I brought this up.

 

[ChronosNotashi]

And this is yet another reason for me to not buy a Funko whatsoever. I'll stick with Amiibo, thanks. They can be used with games (and look much better than the stupid-looking Funko, to boot), and Nintendo hasn't done anything against itch.io of equal measure. (They have removed fangames with Nintendo IP assets that get a large amount of attention, which is arguable as to whether or not it's just as bad as what Funko did here, but besides that, they've done nothing to itch.io itself.)

 

[Dust2dust]

To be honest, I had never heard about Funko before reading about this story. I'm probably out of the loop. Reading all the comments about how ugly their figurines are, I thought you guys were saying that just because they're the bad guys in this story. But I went to check by myself, and OMG, you're right! They are ugly toys. Not a fan of the big head design at all. I wonder how a company selling exclusively ugly toys can survive? Strange world.

 

[Hippocampus_Hamster]

...How is Funko still in business?

I have been to my LGS many times since they started stocking those vinyl voodoo dolls, and I swear I have never once seen anyone point at one and say "I want that". They litter shelves and take up space that used to contain games or at least plushies and stuff. That and the "gamer themed" energy drinks/candies are the longest shelf life items.

I'm guessing either they're mob backed, or Chinese at heart.

And now they're taking down websites? Who gave them permission to do that? This reeks of a mountain of bullshit. If itch.io had any money (many, many of their games are free/PWYW so I doubt they make much more than enough to keep the lights on) they should sue Funko's pants off.

To be honest, I had never heard about Funko before reading about this story. I'm probably out of the loop. Reading all the comments about how ugly their figurines are, I thought you guys were saying that just because they're the bad guys in this story. But I went to check by myself, and OMG, you're right! They are ugly toys. Not a fan of the big head design at all. I wonder how a company selling exclusively ugly toys can survive? Strange world.

They're the company behind these abominations. Unless you live outside of their reach (unsure if they're available internationally) I'd be shocked if you haven't seen them around:

 

[kijetesantakalu042]

...How is Funko still in business?

I have been to my LGS many times since they started stocking those vinyl voodoo dolls, and I swear I have never once seen anyone point at one and say "I want that". They litter shelves and take up space that used to contain games or at least plushies and stuff. That and the "gamer themed" energy drinks/candies are the longest shelf life items.

I'm guessing either they're mob backed, or Chinese at heart.

And now they're taking down websites? Who gave them permission to do that? This reeks of a mountain of bullshit. If itch.io had any money (many, many of their games are free/PWYW so I doubt they make much more than enough to keep the lights on) they should sue Funko's pants off.



They're the company behind these abominations. Unless you live outside of their reach (unsure if they're available internationally) I'd be shocked if you haven't seen them around:

I never seen the gamestop run out of funko pops. The shelves are always full of them.