YouTuber Faces Possible Jail Time for Reviewing Gaming Handhelds

Comments

• x00z@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The officials have access to the devices, they consumed the illegal content and then documented their findings. This is considered a review and the officials should be charged under the copyright law.

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  • thermal_shock@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Almost like illegally obtaining evidence

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• SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Emulators. Are. Legal.

  This was settled with the Sony/Bleem debacle. Bleem only provided the software by which one could emulate PSX games but the never the ISO files themselves. Those files could only be provided by the end user regardless of how they obtained them. Sony, of course, couldn’t give less of a shit and sued them anyways. Judges, however, took Bleem’s side on the basis that no copyright infringement had been committed on their behalf. Although Bleem would ultimately win ever lawsuit brought against them, the sheer size of the legal costs led to their closure which makes you if that Sony’s endgame the whole time.

  Here’s a video by Nerrel about the legality of emulation. It’s from 2020 but it is still relevant.

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  • SomethingBurger@jlai.lu ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    This specific case is in Italy, though.

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    • ILikeTraaaains@lemmy.world ⁨25⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      And it is not about the emulation by itself but that some of the consoles came with roms.

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    • thermal_shock@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      And I’m my moral code

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• bluesheep@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The creator, assuming he didn’t do anything wrong, complied with demands, providing full transcripts of his conversations and chats with gaming handheld manufacturers. The officers also took his phone, promising to return it in a few days. It was returned two months later, on June 15.

  Oof. A reminder to not talk to cops, kids.

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  • bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Never give them evidence against you. They should do the work themselves.

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• simple@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Retro gaming YouTuber Once Were Nerd has been sued and raided by the Italian government.

  That's insane. I know many of these handhelds come with pirated roms but taking it out on a youtube reviewer is outrageous. Why don't they just ban them from being shipped to italy?

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  • st3ph3n@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Easier to stomp on one individual than to crack down on the businesses importing this stuff. They’re probably also collecting some kind of import duty on them too.

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  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    My guess is it’s because reviewing is advertisement, as he’s making money off the review if he monetized the video.

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• susurrus0@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Sounds like a massive overreaction and abuse of century-old laws.

  If those devices are so bad, why not forbid selling them in Italy, instead of punishing people who buy them completely legally. Imagine going through all of this because you bought a laptop and posted a review online.

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• Aielman15@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Italy is a joke. Our politicians call us lazy, the rich go on TV crying because they can’t find people willing to work for minimal (or below) wage, and then a young person manages to carve themselves a path outside of the ‘norm’, our state immediately shows up and curb stomps them.

  I was talking with a colleague of mine the other day. They work two jobs to make a living. The state taxed them so much, they are paying more for the second job that they are gaining, basically working for free. Tax the poor, let the rich off the hook.

  Fuck Italy.

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  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    The state taxed them so much, they are paying more for the second job that they are gaining, basically working for free

    Perhaps I’m misreading, but I don’t think this is mathematically possible.

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    • Nalivai@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The amount of people who don’t understand how taxes work is just ridiculous.

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  • rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Our politicians call us lazy, the rich go on TV crying because they can’t find people willing to work for minimal (or below) wage

    This sounds like Germany. I think it’s the norm in many countries by now.

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  • Nikls94@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Up to 20k per year you pay 23%, from 20k to 32k you pay 25% and from 32k to 50k per year you pay 35% income tax. If my research is correct, the main job emplayer keeps the tax. So the second employer should keep those 23% as well. As long as your colleague earns less than 50k from both of his jobs, he only has to pay 12% of the second job‘s yearly income as taxes out of his own pocket.

    So mathematically it should not be possible to pay to be able to work.

    Unless he’s "self employed“ but then he’s allowed that employer to fist him lubeless.

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    • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      That’s still not how progressive tax systems work. In your example, it’s the first 20k is taxed 23%, then the next 32k is taxed 25%, then the next 50k is taxed 35%.

      So if you made 52k in a year, the first 20k yields 4.6k in taxes, then the remaining 32k yields 8k in taxes. Leading to a total of 12.6k in taxes, or an effective rate of ~24.2%

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    • Aielman15@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It’s a bit of a complicated situation and I wouldn’t go into much detail, but basically, they live in Italy, but one of their job is (work from home) in another country. They are taxed by the other country, then taxed by Italy as well.

      After that, Italy fined them on some bullshit grounds and forced them to pay a ridiculous sum of money. Needless to say, they never attempted to skirt or evade taxes or anything. They worked their ass off and the country said “fuck you in particular” because Italy.

      I specifically remember them telling me that, despite being half Italian, they wanted to live in Italy because they love the country and have friends and family here, but now they don’t know what to do. It’s heartbreaking seeing how our country treats its citizens, then our politicians going on TV and lamenting the fact that young people choose to go live elsewhere. Italy as a country doesn’t see you as a citizen to protect, it just wants to squeeze you dry and leave you for dead.

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• Canconda@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Didn’t Italy elect a far right neo-fascist government?

  Hopefully gamers take notes.

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  • paranoid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Italy has always been a bit odd - I remember a group of scientists were convicted of manslaughter because they didn’t predict an earthquake that killed a few hundred people.

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    • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works ⁨18⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      What about that American college girl whose roommate died and they accused her of murdering her in a satanic ritual which all turned out to be made up by the Italian prosecution?

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    • TachyonTele@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Dude. That happened way back in ...2009!
      Whatthefuck is wrong with people? At least it got overturned.

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    • AcesFullOfKings@feddit.uk ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      uh, wow, I hadn’t heard of this. What an absolutely wild conviction.

      Initial conviction: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20025626

      (spoilers) overturned on appeal: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29996872

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  • Dojan@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    They did! I’m curious about the overlap between retro-gaming enthusiasts and fascists though. Do fascists really care about art and its preservation?

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    • st3ph3n@midwest.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      They’re notorious book burners, so I imagine not.

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    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Fascists care about setting precedent and “purchased vaguely illegal content” is some great precedent.

      This just also is a smart attack because the usual crowd is going to come out to insist that it is OWN’s fault for playing Nintendo games and piracy is the greatest problem facing the world and that Nintendo Switch Online™ is a great service.

      Its the same as when the christofacists attacked Pornhub via Visa et al in the US. Everyone hates revenge porn and child porn (well, except for certain heads of state…) so nobody is going to complain but it made it very clear the path to destroy content that goes against the fascists’ interests.

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• DrSoap@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  That’s really an unnecessary escalation

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  • riskable@programming.dev ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    An unnecessary emulation too! Of fascists.

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• ayyy@sh.itjust.works ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Fuck fascists. I can’t believe the literal Mussolini’s are making a comeback. Remember, the only good fascist is a dead fascist.

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  • Cocopanda@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    CIA killed all the leftists in Italy to keep Italy out of the USSR. Don’t forget that.

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    • Valmond@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Common grandpa, take your pills now.

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• Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  the Italian Copyright Law. This law, which was originally written in 1941

  Draconian copyright laws, government overreach, and fascism. Name a more iconic trio.

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• Scavenger8294@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  so what was the best handheld

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  • lepinkainen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It all depends really, Steam Deck is the best all rounder but for specific niches (tiny and portable, retro form factor) there are better ones 😀

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    • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      retroid pocket 5 is pretty sweet. I just wish it had handles for by big hands.

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  • thermal_shock@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    The one you’ll use, that’s fits your hand and playstyle. There is no “best”, they’re all pretty damn capable for retro gaming.

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    • ivanafterall@lemmy.world ⁨49⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      The one you’ll use, that’s fits your hand and playstyle.

      It was right there in front of me all along…

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• ZeroHora@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Shipping the handheld with a SD card loaded with pirated ROMs is asking for trouble, why target the youtuber though?

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  • x00z@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    why target the youtuber though?

    It’s the same taking the fight against drug dealers to the drug users. They don’t care about the lives they ruin as long as they can punish people.

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  • ViatorOmnium@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Because the manufacturer and seller are in China and they want to make an example out of someone?

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    • ZeroHora@lemmy.ml ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      They made a example, and how that impact the sales of the handhelds? They’ll probably sell more now.

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  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Yeah, it’s weird bcs as I understand that copyright law from 1941 it’s for the actual distribution, and if he never got paid by anyone in the distribution chain (tho as understand he did get some free consoles to review), then he wasn’t part of it - just filming himself saying what can be bought on the market.

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    • MolochAlter@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The exact specifics change country by country, in Italy there are a lot of horseshit rules around it because one of the most powerful unions lobbies (our equivalent of the RIAA) for more exclusive control over media at every chance they get, to the point that you’re not allowed to distribute even your own media through physical sales without paying a cut.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      a decent accountant could persuasively argue those free consoles were payment.

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  • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Almost certainly there was some kind of pressure by somebody well connected on some higher up in the Italian Justice or Political Authorities of the

    “Something Must Be Done!”

    kind.

    Followed by whomever was the last link in the shit chain coming from above, following the mental process of:

    “This is Something we can do”

    “We shall do This!”

    It’s pretty standard in the stuff which isn’t their daily bread and butter that Justice Systems are driven by cronyism at the higher level and cover-my-ass at the lower level, especially in countries which have a culture of Cronyism.

    Often this shit gets overturned when it gets to court or on at least appeal (generally the system gets less crooked as you go up, though I know of cases in other similar countries were only when it got the European Court Of Human Rights did the injustice go made right) and once the Press’ (and the higher up’s) attention has moved on, but that is a mentally and economically very costly fight for individuals to fight, which is why poor people almost invariably get shafted in such a system when they cross the wrong person or “don’t know their place”.

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• buttnugget@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  When I’m dictator, any country that does something like this will be carpet bombed.

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• NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Seen this going around.

  Is anyone familiar with the channel itself? Because based on the article, it sounds like mostly (presumably he) is getting made an example of for reviewing hardware that comes with ROMs on an SD Card? But… a LOT of these “retro consoles” do and outlets just ignore it in favor of their totally legit collection that they don’t talk about.

  Did OWN actually show what is on the SD Card and emphasize that these units came with it?

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  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    He uploaded an English dubbed explanation: youtube/zSEB4if2pJQ#.

    He seems super unsavvy when it comes to legal/formal proceedings or authority in general (I don’t mean that as a bad thing, just that it can def affect how things go and escalate).
    For one he got the notice in mid April & just continued to review consoles this whole time, didn’t prepare for anything (his channels, personal things, SD cards with all them ROMs, etc).
    But other shit-showy things happened too - they took his phone to make a copy & didn’t return it for two months (it’s unclear if they had a warrant or if Italian law recognises what a “personal device” is - EU has yet to compile a delegated act that will unify definitions & personal rights for such modern necessities for all members).

    An Italian youtuber with some legal experience explains a bit more (in Italian): youtube./zSEB4if2pJQ#.

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    • Killer_Tree@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Thank you for the additional context and links!

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• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Remember when Retro Game Corps almost had his youtube channel shut down by Nintendo for showing Nintendo footage on these handhelds?

  Yeah…he’s probably thinking to himself “Welp. Time to retire.”

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• Cocopanda@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  But Gamergate said that Fascist conservatives would be our friends? What? Did the Russian disinfo targets get manipulated again?

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• Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  YouTuber Faces Possible Jail Time for Reviewing Gaming Handhelds

  I’m so tired of these titles “Person arrested for perfectly legal thing”. He wasn’t arrested for reviewing gaming handhelds, he was arrested for copyright infringement.

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  • wizblizz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The most pedantic comment I’ve read all week. Title is fine

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    • ThatGirlKylie@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Exactly. Copyright infringement? He was reviewing handheld that came with ROMs which is the copyright infringement apparently?

      I agree the title is fine because the whole reason why he was arrested because he was reviewing the handheld that had the games on them. That is making an argument out of nothing

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    • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      It’s not pedantic. The title explains absolutely nothing. Reviewing hardware on YouTube is not a crime in any country to my knowledge, so how could he be arrested for it?

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  • grue@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    He couldn’t have been arrested for copyright infringement; that offense was perpetrated by the entity that sold the thing to him, not himself.

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    • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      That is literally the charge/what they are investigating.

      Afaik the difference will come down to if he was ever paid for a review (which would be the difference between a regular consumer buying a thing legally & showing what he bought vs him being part of the promo campaigns by the manufacturer … you know, like Google is).

      And if there is no newer specific law (the old one ofc doesn’t explain shit since it’s from pre-computer era), it might come down to him receiving free consoles to review, and maybe having a bunch of SD cards full of ROMs in his apartment.

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    • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      He can be arrested for anything. If you want to argue that, you’ll have to take it up with the author.

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• vane@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  He could say that he is doing AI research and AI training and reviews are just part of his scientific documentation.

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• finitebanjo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  According to the video, officials are not required to disclose what exactly the charges are or who has brought them until the initial investigation is complete under Italian law. At that point, the case is either dismissed or goes to trial. The complaint specifically mentions reproduction of copyrighted material from Nintendo and Sony, but the case may originate from the agency itself.

  So for now we don’t actually know the charges or if the trial will procede, but yeah definitely not fair.

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  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Yeah, he only showed what the police gave him (they are investigating him for promoting copyright infringement).

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• absquatulate@lemmy.world ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Aah, the Guardia di Finanza, the one police organ italians actually respect and fear ( or so I hear ).

  The charges don’t make sense though. Maybe by reviewing “pirate” material he was indirectly bypassing paying the italian state its due and thus they jumped him?

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