Italian YouTuber faces jail time for showing Android handheld in simulation game
There are countless Android-powered gaming handheld handheld games, but by providing console emulation support, they surpass the usual Android games. The problem is that the gaming ROM on these devices is not completely legal.
Italian YouTuber was once a nerd and was learning how some rights holders take the game seriously after the country’s agents appeared to confiscate their consoles. He now says the investigation could lead to a criminal charge and an end to the channels.
Once a nerdy YouTube content covers many game themes, including Android-based handheld consoles like Powkiddy and Trimui. These devices typically run older Android versions, which have been heavily modified to the game, with built-in emulation support for retro consoles like SNES, Nintendo 64, PlayStation Portable, GameCube, and more. They become very popular due to the cost of mobile hardware falling, so you can buy an essentially updated PSP or Game Boy Advance for $100 or less.
Recently, nerds have attracted the attention of the Italian Ministry of Economics and Finance, whose mission is to protect copyrights in the country. YouTuber explained in a video first discovered by Android Authority (with AI-generated English track) that Guardia di Finanza appeared at his doorstep in April with a search warrant.
Agents accused the creator of promoting his coverage of Anbernic Handheld consoles and promoting pirated copyrighted material. While emulation software is not illegal, there are a lot of pre-installed ROMs in these devices stuffed with plugs, but the channel shows multiple Sony and Nintendo games running on the device. However, once a nerd is far from the only channel about these devices.
Officials seized more than 30 handheld consoles and asked for copies to deal with nerds from the company that made the devices. Once a nerd said he had worked completely with investigators and thought he had done nothing wrong.
Legal gray area
The companies that manufacture these handhelds all operate in China, which is beyond the scope of Western copyright laws. They still sell these devices internationally, sticking to the fuzzy language about the inclusion of gaming ROMs. Anbernic, for example, offers a microSD card bundle with “compatible with over 7000 games”. This makes the method of revisiting retro games at least a legitimate grey area. Authorities believe that the activity that was once a nerd may still be related to Article 171 in Italian copyright law, which allows for violations of up to three years.
It is not clear who filed the original complaint against the channel. The documents once saw by nerds that quoted copyrighted materials from Nintendo and Sony, but Guardia di Finanza doesn’t need to disclose that detail until a preliminary investigation is completed and the agency itself can file a case. (About Nintendo defending its intellectual property rights, Nintendo, in particular, litigation.) After the investigation is completed, the government will file a lawsuit or dismiss the case. Current laws also give officials the right to close a former nerd channel when conducting an investigation.
Italy has a history of backup strength copyright enforcement – the country’s internet regulator recently asked Google Poison DNS to block illegal football streams. So it’s not hard to believe that investigators will file a lawsuit against someone who posted videos with pirated games on YouTube.
This story originally appeared in ARS Technica.
