Denuvo can now subpoena Discord, Valve, and Reddit to identify the anonymous game cracker known as voices38, after cutting its demands from 46 requests to nine. In an order dated 16 October, US District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. approved the narrower requests, allowing the anti-piracy company to seek account identity and contact records so it can serve its lawsuit.
The approval follows a privacy challenge from the judge, which prompted Denuvo to drop requests for payment details, transaction histories, login logs, and posts or comments. IP addresses remain on the list, alongside names, email addresses, phone numbers, identification documents, and physical addresses. The revised subpoenas set 3 November as the deadline for the platforms to produce records.
This advances the case beyond Denuvo’s earlier attempt to unmask voices38, when the company was still seeking permission to approach the platforms through the court. The latest order authorises that discovery for the limited purpose of identifying and serving the defendant. It does not decide whether voices38 is liable for Denuvo’s allegations.
Why Denuvo had to narrow its requests
According to TorrentFreak’s report, the original proposals reached well beyond basic account details. The Valve subpoena contained 35 requests covering seven Steam profiles, including payment methods, transaction histories, device identifiers, and linked accounts. Denuvo also sought Discord server memberships and role assignments, plus Reddit posts, comments, and subreddit memberships.
On 8 October, Judge Gilliam challenged the volume of information Denuvo wanted and raised substantial privacy concerns. He gave the company a choice: revise the subpoenas using a narrower model from another case, or explain why each request was necessary. Denuvo chose to rewrite them, filing its response and revised subpoenas on 14 October.
The resulting nine requests track nine accounts: one Discord user, one Reddit user, and seven Steam profiles. Each asks for records relating to the identity or contact information of the account holder, rather than separately demanding purchasing activity or community participation. That change satisfied the court, whose approval specifically describes the revised subpoenas as appropriately tailored to this preliminary stage.
IP addresses remain central to the search
In its response to the court, Denuvo argues that it needs more than a pseudonym to name the defendant and deliver the lawsuit properly. It wants any names or identification documents the platforms hold, as well as ways to contact the account holder. Its filing also expressly excludes the contents of messages, posts, and files from the revised requests.
Denuvo retained IP addresses and telephone numbers even though they go beyond the narrower subpoena model the judge had suggested. The company argues that limited, self-reported registration details may not reliably identify the person behind the accounts. TorrentFreak reports that Denuvo considers IP addresses a potentially essential route to identifying the defendant, which explains why dropping login-log requests has not removed IP addresses from the case.
The court’s permission covers the specified accounts at those three platforms. TorrentFreak also reports that FixedFloat, the cryptocurrency exchange mentioned in Denuvo’s earlier investigation, is absent from the subpoena targets. The approved requests therefore focus on the account records held by Discord, Reddit, and Valve rather than expanding the search to that exchange.
The underlying dispute began with Denuvo’s September lawsuit against voices38, which alleges violations of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions. For now, the immediate task is more basic: connect the online handle to an identifiable defendant who can be served. The next milestone is the platforms’ response to the revised subpoenas, with the production deadline set for 3 November.
Does this mean voices38 has been identified?
No. The order gives Denuvo permission to obtain identifying records from the three platforms. The material reviewed for this report does not establish that the company has received those records or identified the defendant.
Will Discord or Reddit have to hand over private messages?
Denuvo’s revised requests do not seek message contents. They target identity and contact records associated with the specified accounts, and its filing also excludes the contents of posts and files.
