Gaming Industry Asks US Government to Designate voices38 a Major Cyber Theft Threat

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has asked the US government to place the Denuvo-cracking group known as voices38 on its list of notorious cyber theft actors. The gaming industry group argues that...

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has asked the US government to list Denuvo lock cracker aka voices38 on its list of notorious cyber thieves.

The gaming industry group argues that the cracker is one of the main sources in the game piracy ecosystem, feeding torrent sites and repackers. However, as FitGirl's presence on this list shows, getting the infamous label isn't necessarily a guarantee that these activities will stop.

Every year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) asks copyright owners to identify the foreign sites and services active in cyber theft that they identify as the greatest threats.

The final list, known as Notorious Markets, traditionally includes torrent sites, cloud storage and streaming portals. In recent years, hosting companies and other intermediaries have also been added to this list.

Last week, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents many of the major game companies, presented its latest proposals. This list includes the usual suspects, but alongside them is a target that doesn't even have its own website.

In the ESA report, voices38 is mentioned as one of the new threats. The gaming industry group describes the aforementioned anonymous cracker as a persistent and stubborn stream that specializes in breaking Denovo's anti-crack lock; A technical protection system used by at least 9 members of this community.

According to the ESA, a list on the r/CrackWatch section of the Reddit community attributes the hacking and unlocking of several games to voices38. The group asserts that this cracker plays a key role in the piracy ecosystem, as the versions released by it are quickly distributed by rippers, torrent sites, cloud spaces, and illegal forums.

The ESA notes that the cracker's lack of a public identity or a traditional website should not prevent it from being listed on the list of infamous markets. In fact, the forum argues that being on the list can help copyright owners deal more decisively with hacking operations.

Last month, Denovo filed a lawsuit against voices38 in California federal court and has recently sought subpoenas against Discord, Volvo and Reddit. However, there is no mention of this lawsuit in the report provided by ESA.