The bizarre world where a YouTuber might go to jail for reviewing a retro console

We live in a world of massive overreach. That’s something we all take for granted these days but when Italian YouTuber Once Were Nerd reviewed an Ambernic handheld on his channel, he probably wasn’t expecting the police to come knocking with an arrest warrant.

If you know, you know, but if not, then a quick explainer is in order – Ambernic, and many similar cheap Chinese retro handhelds tend to come supplied with a Micro SD card full of ROMs. Pop that into the console and you have instant Donkey Kong and the like. We aren’t talking about a Steam Deck here; this is low-level old stuff, really.

Anyway, Once Were Nerd reviewed handhelds such as these on his Italian retro-gaming channel, only for the Guardia di Finanza to come-a-knocking with a search warrant investigating his “promotion of pirate materials.”

They departed with over 30 consoles, but due to a quirk in Italian law, charges are not revealed until after the investigation is completed. However, according to Android Authority, the complaint specifically mentions the reproduction of copyrighted material from Sony and Nintendo, although it is unclear if either company is behind the raid.

Nintendo, especially, however, is infamously litigious and within the last year has forced the removal from history of Switch emulators Yuzu and Ryujinx, alongside DS emulator Citra, so it is not a mega-leap to see how it might want to limit the promotion of devices with this sort of thing built-in, but come on.

Once Were Nerd says the video was not sponsored, nor did they have any affiliate links, and the items were simply reviewed as they arrived, complete with SD card.

Do not pass go..

If charges are pressed in the case, there is a maximum punishment of around 15,000 euros and up to three years in prison.

While there is a chance that the investigation will be dropped with no charges, the YouTube channel can still be shut down before the outcome becomes clear, which is also ridiculous.

It is a tricky one in some ways because it is surprising it hasn’t happened before, such is the power of the copyright lobby, but this could be the start of dangerous times for content creators working in the retro-gaming space.