Anti-piracy and digital rights management (DRM) giant Denuvo has secured judicial approval to issue subpoenas to major tech platforms Discord, Valve, and Reddit in an effort to unmask the anonymous individual or group operating under the handle "voices38." The development follows a brief legal back-and-forth in a California federal court, where a presiding judge initially flagged broad privacy concerns over the extent of the data originally requested by the DRM developer.
The legal action is part of an ongoing Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anti-circumvention lawsuit filed by the Irdeto-owned company in September. The original complaint aimed to hold the defendant accountable for allegedly bypassing Denuvo’s sophisticated anti-tamper DRM technology, which is widely utilized across the modern video game industry to protect major titles from unauthorized copying and distribution. However, when the lawsuit was initially filed, Denuvo was unable to identify the individual behind the operation, referencing the defendant only through a Discord user ID, a Reddit account, and a series of seven Steam profiles associated with the handle.
Seeking to uncover the real-world identity behind these digital aliases, Denuvo initially petitioned the court for permission to serve subpoenas on Discord, Valve, and Reddit. The scope of those initial requests, however, extended far beyond basic contact details. The company sought comprehensive digital footprints, including payment data, transaction histories, login logs, server memberships, and extensive post and comment histories across the platforms.
That expansive data collection effort drew immediate scrutiny from the federal bench. On October 8, U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. issued an order requiring Denuvo to justify why it needed the voluminous data contained in its initial requests for production simply to identify and serve the defendant. In his written concerns, Judge Gilliam noted that the plaintiff’s demands went well beyond what was reasonably necessary for the limited purpose of identifying the account holders and could pose substantial privacy concerns for everyday users on those platforms.
The judge specifically highlighted the breadth of the proposed subpoena directed at Valve, which was the most expansive of the group. That proposal included 35 separate requests covering seven distinct Steam profiles, demanding payment methods, transaction histories, specific IP addresses coupled with timestamps, device identifiers, and links to any associated external accounts. Similar concerns applied to the requests made to Discord and Reddit, which probed deep into server roles, subreddit memberships, and historical commentary.
Faced with judicial skepticism, Denuvo was given two paths forward: either justify each data request in meticulous detail or revise the subpoenas to adopt a much narrower model utilized in similar digital infringement litigation. Opting for the more streamlined approach, Denuvo submitted a heavily revised set of subpoenas that drastically reduced the total number of data demands from 46 down to nine targeted inquiries.
The revised subpoenas focus squarely on securing basic identifying and contact information associated with the specific accounts in question. Each of the nine requests now targets documents related to the true identity of the account holder, including legal names, official identification documents, email addresses, phone numbers, and physical business or residential addresses.
Notably, the revised document requests completely eliminate previous demands for financial information, payment data, transaction histories, login logs, and historical post or comment archives. However, the updated subpoenas still retain requests for IP addresses and telephone numbers. While these specific data points extend beyond the strict boundaries of the model subpoena initially referenced by the court, Denuvo argued that they remain vital to the investigation. The company noted that major consumer platforms typically collect very little verifying information during the standard account creation process, and much of the data they do hold is entirely self-reported by users.
Because the online platforms maintain limited verified records beyond self-reported profiles, Denuvo asserted in its court filings that IP addresses may represent the only reliable investigative path to uncovering the true identity of the defendant. Emphasizing the necessity of these specific digital footprints, the company reiterated that it currently possesses nothing more than a pseudonym in its efforts to prosecute the alleged copyright violations.
The revised list of subpoena targets encompasses one Discord user account, one Reddit account, and seven separate Steam profiles managed by Valve. Despite earlier disclosures revealing that Denuvo had tracked cryptocurrency transactions connected to the cracker through the digital currency exchange FixedFloat, the crypto platform was ultimately left off the final list of subpoena targets submitted to the court.
Following a review of the modified documentation, Judge Gilliam granted the motion, paving the way for Denuvo to officially serve the revised subpoenas on Discord, Valve, and Reddit. The newly approved subpoenas establish a compliance deadline for the platforms to produce the requested identity and contact records. Whether these targeted disclosures will ultimately provide sufficient evidence to link a real-world name to the "voices38" handle remains to be seen as the legal proceedings continue.
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