Itch.io is presently offline due to a “trash AI-powered” phishing report

Indie sport storefront Itch.io is presently offline due to what it describes as a bogus phishing report. Whereas the sport retailer’s servers are nonetheless on-line, the area for the web site is presently pointing in the direction of IP addresses that itch.io doesn’t personal — making it inaccessible for most individuals.

Itch.io blames popular culture collectibles firm Funko for the problems in a post on X, “as a result of they use some trash ‘AI-powered’ Model Safety Software program referred to as Model Defend that created some bogus Phishing report back to our registrar.”

Whereas the disputed web page has been taken down, itch.io’s area registrar, iwantmyname, nonetheless disabled the area possible attributable to automated techniques. Based on a post on X, the indie sport market is now ready on the area registrar to reply and re-enable its area.

If you know the way to tweak your hosts file that maps hostnames to IP addresses then you should utilize the 45.33.107.166 IP handle within the meantime, however you’ll have to take away the entry as soon as the area is restored. Itch.io is hoping the issues might be resolved in a matter of hours so it doesn’t need to deploy a brand new area title as a substitute.

The area points come simply days after itch.io began permitting its customers to make use of its area title for Bluesky accounts. When you have spent $10 on the platform then you have got the choice to make use of your itch.io profile URL on Bluesky, however the present area points imply anybody who switched to the customized itch.io URLs has an “invalid deal with” error on Bluesky till the principle itch.io area is again on-line.