Judge orders TextNow to name Bungie employees who threatened them in June.
A new report has revealed that harassment was directed at two employees at Destiny2 developer Bungie. The harassment included stalking and escalated until the developers took legal action to find the perpetrator.
The Record reports that two Bungie employees sought information from TextNow after they were harassed via the anonymous Waterloo-based phone service. The report says that the incident began when a Bungie employee tweeted about Destiny2 and included a video featuring Uhmaayyze, a Twitch streamer. An anonymous Twitter account threatened to kill Bungie employees that day.
Numerous Bungie employees started receiving voice mails from their numbers. They were repeatedly using the N-word. Bungie requested that the developer create Destiny2 DLC to “N-word Killing.”
The individual knew more about the Bungie employee who had posted the tweets featuring Uhmaayyze. They received a call from “Brian”, who repeated the request for “N-word killing” DLC. According to the report, the caller identified himself as belonging to a far-right-wing social network. The employee’s spouse also worked for Bungie and sent a message asking for the DLC.
The number that made the calls and texted ordered pizza for the developer’s address. This proved the individual was even more in possession of the employee’s data. A Twitter user, @Inkcel, posted a photo of the employee’s ID card. He claimed he moved to live 30 mins from the employee. This was followed by a tweet with his full name warning that they were not safe.
Two employees feared for their safety and sought an urgent and confidential court order that required TextNow to identify the threat makers. Superior Court Justice Fred Myers supported this.
A spokesperson for TextNow told The Record that the company’s mission was to make communication affordable for everyone. “We receive legal requests from time to time for information. All valid requests are met as required by law.
The judge informed the Record that employees do not plan to sue users once identified. However, he expressed satisfaction that there were processes for identifying harassers.
He said, “Whether they sue the U.S., or give their name to the police. I am satisfied that an exceptional equitable remedy should be available to identify harassers of others, with base racism who dox, personal abuse information, and make overt threats to physical harm and death.”
