9 folks have been arrested in Italy for his or her connection to a trafficking ring dealing in fake retro video game consoles, in an operation that seized greater than $50 million in counterfeit items. Italy’s Guardia di Finanza — a militarized police drive that offers with financial and monetary crimes — announced Friday that it had arrested the Italian nationals and confiscated their assortment of fake video game items.
Dubbed “Coin-Up 80,” the investigation was led by the Guardia di Finanza’s Turin unit however spanned provinces throughout Italy and commenced in late 2023. The Guardia di Finanza stated in a information launch that it seized roughly 12,000 video game consoles on which a complete of greater than 47 million pirated video video games have been loaded, with an estimated worth of greater than €47.5 million ($52.8 million). The specifics of the counterfeits weren’t detailed in the discharge, however photographs revealed of the huge haul present a bevy of fake Nintendo consoles, assorted handheld units, and what look like counterfeit struggle sticks. Polygon has reached out to the Guardia di Finanza for extra info, and we’ll replace this story once we hear again.
Italian police stated the consoles originated from China, with distribution from Italian firms tied up in the trafficking ring. The consoles have been additionally bought in bodily shops. The units, past being fake, weren’t compliant with Europe’s client security requirements. They have been all destroyed by the authorities in accordance with Italian regulation, in keeping with the information launch.
Italy was as soon as often known as “a global hotspot for video game piracy,” in keeping with Vice. Piracy definitely occurred elsewhere, however in Italy from the mid-’80s to the flip of the millennium, video video games weren’t protected the identical approach as different leisure — which means that “properly registered companies who had real employees and real financial statements” have been participating in piracy proper out in the open. Game makers tried to struggle piracy in Italy, however they have been, “for the most part,” “completely unsuccessful,” Vice wrote. When Italian copyright regulation was revised in 2000, video video games have been granted comparable protections to motion pictures and music.
