Italian Authorities Investigate Retro Reviewer for Promoting Anbernic Handheld Consoles; Faces Up to Three Years in Jail over Copyright

Sure, here’s a rewritten version of the article:

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So, there’s this guy in Italy, Francesco Salicini. He runs a YouTube channel called Once Were Nerd, and apparently, he’s in a bit of hot water. Like, the kind of hot you accidentally pour over your hand when you’re making pasta. Anyway, the Italian authorities think he’s been, uh, dabbling in piracy. Not the high-seas kind, but more the digital variety. You know, with gaming consoles. Anbernic consoles, to be precise, are supposed to play nostalgic games from back in the day—Nintendo, Sony, you name it. But they often come loaded with games—like, lots of them—without any sort of permission from the folks who made these games. Not exactly above board, right?

Francesco, though, insists that he’s just an innocent reviewer. He only talks about the cool stuff these consoles can do. No shady business, he says. No affiliate links, no shady sponsorships. Just pure geek fanboy talk. But, here he is, under investigation. It’s Article 171 ter — not sure what all those fancy law words mean, but it sounds expensive and jail-y, with fines up to 15,000 euros and a possible three-year stint in prison. Yikes. The Financial Police, which, side note, sounds both terrifying and like they’d throw the most boring parties, have snagged over 30 consoles from him. Plus, they’ve got his phone, and maybe even peeked at his late-night WhatsApp convos.

Apparently, these investigations drag on for about six months. Not that anyone’s counting, but during this time, Francesco’s channels could be pulled down, even if it turns out there’s no foul play. That’s like being told you’ve failed the class before taking the exam.

Meanwhile, our friends at Nintendo — they’re notorious for being super protective over their games. Like, cross-the-street-to-avoid-someone-cutting-the-line protective. They’ve been launching copyright strikes like they’re going out of style. GitHub? Whole emulator repos, poof, gone. But, who knows who’s the puppet master pulling the strings against Francesco. Might be Nintendo, could be Sony, maybe both. This is like the chess of IP battles.

There’s this ongoing debate about emulators and game preservation. Game companies? They’re like, “Hands off our stuff!” even if said stuff is older than your grandma’s basement rug. But fans just want to keep these old games alive. With original consoles aging like milk left out, emulators are the secret sauce. But legally, it’s a grey zone worthy of a dramatic courtroom TV show.

Anyway, if you want to keep up with all this chaos, maybe follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News or something. They might have more on this whole internet drama.