Connect the dots: Denuvo has spent the last few weeks uncovering the true identity of Voices38. The mysterious cracker has wreaked havoc on the company’s notorious DRM and anti-tampering technology, and Denuvo is now turning to lawyers to expose the veteran programmer.
Denuvo’s first attempt to uncover Voices38’s true identity was unsuccessful because the company tried to obtain too much data at once. Now a California federal judge has granted the revised subpoena requests from the Irdeto-owned DRM manufacturer. Several Internet companies will soon have to answer to Denuvo’s lawyers, but Voices38 could end up being a John Doe after all.
Denuvo’s latest legal attack began earlier this month when the company asked a judge for help identifying the unnamed cracker, who operated under the moniker “Voices38.” The request was part of Denuvo’s lawsuit against Voices38 over the cracker’s alleged violations of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions.
Denuvo initially asked the judge to approve 46 separate subpoena requests against Discord, Valve, Reddit and other internet companies. The subpoenas sought potential names and email addresses, as well as additional data on payments and financial transactions, login logs, comment histories and more.
According to Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr., Denuvo’s demands went too far. Although the company attempted to uncover Voices38’s identity, the subpoenas went far beyond the information needed to identify the person(s) involved. Given the potentially significant privacy implications, the judge decided to limit the scope of the applications.
Denuvo had two options: revise its subpoenas or provide detailed explanations supporting each request. The DRM manufacturer chose the former and reduced the number of requests from 46 to nine. Judge Gilliam has now approved the revised motions, allowing Denuvo to serve subpoenas on Discord, Valve and Reddit.
Specifically, the company is seeking identifying information associated with the Discord account “voices38,” Reddit user voices38, and seven different Steam profiles. So far, Denuvo has only been able to target one online pseudonym. The subpoenas could help the company obtain more information about Voices38’s identity, including names, government-issued identification documents, email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses.
Despite being targeted by a company known for tracking DRM crackers, Voices38 recently hinted that things would be okay regardless. The programmer released his latest crack just a few days ago. However, in the last few hours, Voices38 has reportedly deleted its official Reddit account, one of the main channels through which the cracker shared releases and updates.
Could Voices38 become the next Voksi, the crack that Denuvo successfully forced into early retirement a few years ago? The developer was instrumental in removing Irdeto’s tamper protection technology from recent games, including Doom: The Dark Ages and Resident Evil Requiem.
