The vicissitudes of the LAN-Gate continue. The case, which broke out in April, stems from a complaint presented by the Customs and Monopolies Agency by an entrepreneur. As a first result of that action, a tsunami of reports and checks by the Police Forces who could not do anything other than record a regulatory vacuum and impose various sanctions. One of the first establishments to be hit, the eSport Palace in Bergamo. The owner, Alessio Cicolari, has taken it upon himself to represent the grievances of the category before all the competent bodies up to obtaining the start of a technical table by the Government and the discussion of its reasons in front of the National and European Parliament.
As told by Cicolari himself to the microphones of AGIMEG, however, the situation is not very different from how we left it last time. In fact, until April 2023, the activities of the eSports sector will be able to continue to operate under a different regulatory protection, the same one designed for traveling shows. Beyond that date, it will be necessary to have a legislative solution in hand, which is already under discussion. Indeed, in the absence of clear rules, Sale LAN operators would once again find themselves exposed to the possibility of fines and sanctions. The same eSport Palace, says Cicolari, is currently with the back fines for tens of thousands of euros and the actual destruction of products worth 100,000 euros. In this situation, Cicolari says, the possibility of closing the business cannot be ruled out.
The closure option, to be evaluated on the basis of other factors as well, is the one that worries the various exhibitors affected by what we at GameTime have now renamed LAN-Gate. However, there may be good news. According to what was learned directly from Cicolari, who then shared the information also on Facebook, the Court of Bergamo accepted the appeal presented against the measures adopted by ADM. A first important result lies in the suspension of the various injunctions that have also affected eSport Palace.
Still everything to be decided in the hearing, of course. The first hearing is set for the end of February 2023.
Source: Alessio Cicolari