YouTuber faces jail time for showing off Android-based gaming handhelds
1 min read
Summary
Italian YouTuber Once Were Nerd, who makes videos about gaming, found himself in hot water with Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance after a search of his possessions for pirated material stemming from his coverage of Anbernic handheld game consoles.
While Once Were Nerd has not been charged, the outlet reported that the authorities confiscated his consoles and hardware.
The once-popular practice of ROMs, whereby users would download games straight to the device instead of using discs or cartridges, has increasingly been targeted by authorities due to copyright issues, with the creator of the channel claiming that the investigation could lead to criminal charges and the end of his Once Were Nerd YouTube channel.
Following the search, Once Were Nerd has clarified that he never encouraged users to download illegal ROMs, only reviewing the devices which can be bought pre-loaded with games.
