CD Projekt Red leverages DMCA to kill tweets that link to stolen game data

CD Projekt Red is a video game developer that's behind one of the most infamous video games of 2020, Cyberpunk 2077. That game was very highly anticipated but launched with such massive problems that it turned into a liability for its developer and angered gamers worldwide who had waited years to play the game. The company announced not long ago that hackers had accessed its servers and stolen game data that was leaked online.

As you might expect, there have been several users who are linking to that stolen data via Twitter and other social networks. CD Projekt Red has reportedly been using DMCA takedown requests to eliminate tweets that link to that stolen data. Reports indicate that last Thursday, at least two Twitter users were notified of DMCA takedown requests via email from a copyright monitoring firm.

Reports indicate that the emails listed descriptions of the infringement that included linking to illegally obtain source code of Gwent: The Witcher Card Game that reposted without authorization and wasn't intended to be released publicly. One person whose tweet linking to the material was taken down said that the link led to a torrent to allow others to download the source code.

The DMCA takedown notice targeted at least three other Twitter users. They had tweets replaced by a standard Twitter message noting the content had been removed in response to a report from the copyright holder. CD Projekt Red announced that it had been hacked last week and posted a screenshot of the ransom request demanded by the hackers.

The game developer has refused to cooperate with the hackers and has paid no ransom. The hackers are reportedly trying to sell other data they obtained during their attack.