Sure thing, let’s see… So, Francesco Salicini, right? This dude runs the YouTube thing called Once Were Nerd. Apparently, he’s caught up in some hot water over in Italy. Why? Well, he’s supposedly hyping up these Anbernic game consoles. I mean, they’re retro and can play those old Nintendo and Sony games, which is kinda sweet nostalgia-wise. But, here’s the kicker — they sometimes come with microSD cards packed with tons of those copyrighted games. Uh-oh, legal territory.
Salicini’s saying, “Hey, hold up, I just reviewed the hardware!” He didn’t take any money from the companies, didn’t even throw in affiliate links. Makes you wonder what’s really going on, right?
Now, Italian authorities ain’t joking around. Article 171 ter — yes, that’s a thing — might land him up to €15,000 in fines or a cozy three-year prison stay. Yikes. Those Guardia di Finanza folks are deep in it, grabbing over 30 consoles and even his phone. Salicini’s gotta feel like someone hit pause on his life with this investigation hanging over him.
But here’s the rub, all this could take like six months before they decide if it’s game over or what. Meanwhile, his YouTube’s at risk. It’s a bit nuts if you ask me. No iron-clad evidence, but still the axe hovers.
Nintendo’s name pops up too—always the copyright hawk. They’ve even swooped down on emulator repositories before. So, you gotta wonder, is it the big N or even Sony behind this? Couldn’t say for sure, but it smells like it.
And we’re stuck in this weird game of tug-of-war, with game studios on one end and game preservation fans on the other. Studios wanna reign over every little game, like, even the ancient ones nobody’s making money from anymore. Meanwhile, fans are saying, “Hey, these memories! We can’t lose ’em, right?” It’s emulators or bust for some of these classics ‘cause the old consoles are basically on life support.
Anyway — what am I even saying — follow Tom’s Hardware if you want the deets straight from the source. They’ve got this Google News thing going, hit the Follow button if you’re into that stuff.
