Need for Speed

This indicates that there was some recent effort in part of the games' developer to ensure that the players were informed on the dangers of imitating reckless driving. He is especially careful about talking in intelligible Italian, though with a light Milan accent, while some politicians prior to 1992 talked an incomprehensible jargon. It should be noted, however, that celebrity-endorsed advisories have been included in opening cutscenes of Need for Speed titles since Need for Speed: Underground, stressing that players should only the race within the games, as well as advising gamers to drive responsibly in real-life. He is known to tell jokes to create a relaxed atmosphere, and trying to make sure everybody enjoys himself in his presence. [1]. His opponents perceive this as hypocrisy, since he can also deliver strong speeches that at times border on hate, especially when talking about communists. Controversy of speeding and evading the authority has surfaced when a copy of the game is found on one of two street racing Mercedes cars in Toronto in January 26, 2006; the street racer was involved in an accident resulting a taxi-driver's death. Berlusconi always tries to maintain a gentle, agreeable character with whomever he is talking to.

Also, there is the "Black Edition", a special edition which features additional races and two bonus cars, a specially-tuned BMW E46 (M3) GTR and a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. Just about everyone agrees that he cares a great deal about his appearance; in January, 2004, after intense speculation in the media, he admitted he had a facelift [18]. Most Wanted takes the series back to its roots, with police chases making up the body of the gameplay, and also combines the extensive vehicle customization features that were known in the Underground series and Grand Theft Auto-like free-roaming of Underground 2. Another criticism voiced is that he over-reacts to attacks from political opponents. Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the latest major incarnation of Need for Speed, released on 15 November 2005, and is one of the first games released for the Xbox 360. Furthermore, critics often attribute a substantial part of his financial successes to his closeness to politicians that have been later exposed as corrupt (as Bettino Craxi) or even contiguous to the Mafia. It is the top selling game for the PSP. His detractors, however, point out that he tends to centralize power upon his person, and this is reflected in the organization of the Forza Italia party.

In addition to Japanese cars, NFSU Rivals features several American muscle cars, including those not featured in previous Need for Speed Underground games, such as the the 1969 Dodge Charger, the 1967 Ford Mustang, and the 1997 Chevrolet Corvette C5. Berlusconi is admired by some Italians for his tremendous success as a businessman; they praise what they consider his innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit. Need for Speed Underground Rivals is a PSP game released on February, March and September 2005 for Japan, the United States and Europe, respectively. Berlusconi has also been indicted in Spain for charges of tax fraud and violation of anti-trust laws regarding the private TV network Telecinco, but his status as a member of the European Parliament allowed him to gain immunity from prosecution ¹⁶. It also suffered from a debatable soundtrack. Presently (February 2005) the law is in process of being re-examined by the parliament, taking into account the President's objections on its constitutionality. The game wasn't as successful as Underground, mainly due to some features that were in the game, but not expanded on, such as sound systems, which could be put in the trunk of cars, but served no purpose other than sheer flash (not unlike the body kits, spoilers, and carbon-fiber that is throughout the game, but does not alter the handling characteristics of the vehicles either). This reform has met almost unanimous dissent from the Italian judges ^13,14 and, after three years of debate and struggle, was passed by the Italian parliament in December 2004, but was immediately vetoed by the Italian President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi ¹⁵, who said some of the passed laws were "clearly unconstitutional".

Underground 2 also introduces several SUVs, which could be customized as extensively as other Underground 2 vehicles and used to race against other SUV racers. More seriously, the Berlusconi administration has long been planning a judiciary reform intended to limit the arbitrariness allowed to the judges in their decisions (for example by introducing civil liability on the consequences of their sentences), but which, according to its critics, will instead limit the magistrature's independence, by de facto subjecting the judiciary to the executive's control. Also included is an "outrun" mode where a player can challenge random opponents on the road and the race leader will attempt to distance themselves away from the opponent to defeat the opponent (similar to Tokyo Xtreme Racer). For such reasons, Berlusconi and his government have an ongoing quarrel with the Italian judiciary, which reached its peak in 2003 when Berlusconi commented to a foreign journalist that judges are "mentally disturbed" and "anthropologically different from the rest of the human race", remarks that he later claimed he meant to be directed to specific judges only, and of a humorous nature¹². In Underground 2, the story continues, but there are new racing modes such as the Underground Racing League and Street X, new and more tuning options, as well as a new method of selecting races—just driving around the city (similar to Grand Theft Auto) and selecting race "beacons". Because of these legislative acts, political opponents accuse Berlusconi of passing ad personam laws, to protect himself from legal charges; Berlusconi and his allies, on the other hand, maintain that such laws are consistent with everyone's right to a rapid and just trial, and with the principle of presumption of innocence (garantismo); furthermore, they claim that Berlusconi is subject to a judiciary persecution, a political witch hunt orchestrated by politicized (left-wing) judges ¹¹. A demo of the game was placed as a "late" easter egg in finished copies of the EA Games and Criterion Games collaboration Burnout 3: Takedown, and completed versions of NFSU2 also have a demo of Burnout 3 in the game. Subsequently Berlusconi has declared his intent to re-introduce the law using the correct procedure for constitutional modification.

Need For Speed: Underground 2, the sequel to the commercial hit Need for Speed: Underground, was released on November 15, 2004. In January 2004 the Lodo Maccanico was nullified by the Constitutional court as it was ruled to be in conflict with the Italian constitution. This limitation could be overcome with the use of third party utilities. However, the trial was not frozen for other defendants, and the former lawyer of Berlusconi's main firm (Fininvest) and former Italian defence minister, Cesare Previti, was sentenced to 5 years although the crime was reduced from corruption of judges to simple corruption ^9,10. While the PC version of the game featured Internet multiplayer, it strangely lacked LAN multiplayer capabilities. This law froze Berlusconi's position in the SME-Ariosto trial in which he was accused of having corrupted judges in previous legal rulings regarding his partecipation in the public auction of the state-owned food company SME in the 1980s. In addition, vehicles do not have damage models at all. Relevant examples are the law reducing punishment for all cases of false accounting; the new law on international rogatories, which made his Swiss bank records unusable in court against him ⁶; the law on legitimate suspicion, which allowed defendants to request their cases to be moved to another court if they believe that the local judges are biased against them ^7,8; and most importantly the lodo Maccanico law, passed in June 2003, which granted the highest five state officers, including the Prime Minister, immunity from prosecution while in office².

EA took some effort in making the races appear as sanctioned racing events, and included a public service announcement in the game's introduction. On some occasions, which raised a strong upheaval in the Italian political opposition, laws passed by the Berlusconi administration have effectively delayed ongoing trials on him, allowing the statute of limitations to expire, or stopped them entirely. It is rumoured that the car manufacturers were very strict in how their vehicles were to be portrayed in this game, especially considering the "illegal street racing" reputation of the tuner culture. Heated debate on this issue was recently (2004) triggered again when Marcello Dell'Utri, the manager (later managing director) of Berlusconi`s publishing company Publitalia 80 and a Forza Italia senator and long time friend of Berlusconi, was sentenced to 9 years by the Palermo court on charge of "external association to the Mafia" ⁵, a sentence on which Berlusconi refused to comment. Despite this, Underground was commercially very successful. Berlusconi acknowledges a personal friendship only to Craxi, and of course denies any ties to the Mafia. This, plus the increasingly arcade-like controls, became points of controversy for NFS fans. Frequently cited by opponents are also events dating to the 1980s, including supposed "favor exchanges" between Berlusconi and the former prime minister Bettino Craxi, indicted in 1990-91 for various corruption charges; and even possible connections to the Italian Mafia, the latter accusations arising mostly from the above mentioned hiring of Vittorio Mangano⁴.

Instead of hundred-thousand dollar exotics, Underground featured vehicles associated with import tuner culture. These accusations are regarded by Berlusconi and his supporters as empty slander, trying to undermine Berlusconi's reputation of a self-made man. All races now take place in a city at night, and there are no police pursuits—characteristics that were reused in Undergrounds sequel, Need for Speed: Underground 2. The allegations made against him generally include suspects about the extremely fast increase of his activity as a construction entrepreneur in years 1961-63, hinting at the possibility that in those years he received money from unknown and possibly illegal sources. A complete reimagining of the series' formula, Need for Speed: Underground offered a career mode featuring a storyline, and a garage mode that allowed players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades. Berlusconi's career as an entrepreneur is also often questioned by his detractors. "Hot Pursuit 2" was the first "Need for Speed" to forego an original instrumental rock/techno soundtrack in favour of songs sung by licensed song artists under the EA Trax label. Because of this a court of appeal convicted him for perjury in 1990, but the crime was extinguished by the previous 1989 amnesty.

For the multiplayer mode of the PC version, GameSpy's internet matchmaking system was used in place of Local Area Network(LAN)play. Such statements, however, conflicted with the findings of the parliamentary commission appointed to investigate the lodge's activity, with material evidence, and even with previous testimony of Berlusconi, all of which showing that he had actually been a member of P2 since 1978 and had indeed paid a 100,000 Italian liras entry fee. The game lacks a cockpit view. Berlusconi later (1989) sued for libel three journalists who had written an article hinting at his involvement in financial crimes and in this occasion he declared in court that he had joined the P2 lodge "only a very short time before the scandal broke" and "he had not even paid the entry fee". The game also allows players to chase down speeders as the police. The P2 lodge was dissolved by the Italian parliament in December 1981 and a law was passed declaring similar organizations illegal, but no specific crimes were alleged to individual members of P2. Some of the cars included in the game are the Ferrari F50, the McLaren F1 and its F1 LM variant, the Porsche Carrera GT concept car, the Lamborghini Murcielago, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. A list of names was found of adherents of P2, which included members of the secret services and some prominent personalities from the political, industrial, military and press elite, among which Silvio Berlusconi, who was just starting to gain popularity as the founder and owner of "Canale 5" TV network.

(A different developer did those versions, and they were not ports of the PS2 version.). Notably, in 1981 a scandal arose on the discovery by the police of Licio Gelli's secret freemasonry lodge (Propaganda Due, or P2) aiming to move the Italian political system in an authoritarian direction to oppose communism. Strangely, different versions of the game were produced for each system; the best version, according to the gaming press, was the PlayStation 2 version, with the Xbox, GameCube and PC versions generally considered inferior. Some of the suspects on Berlusconi's person arise from real or perceived blank spots in his past. While well-received by the press, it lacked the realism and sheer depth of "NFS: Porsche Unleashed". Consequently, the dilatory tactics adopted by Berlusconi's attorneys (including repeated motions for change of venue) served to nullify the pending charges. The first "Need For Speed" for the "next-generation" of consoles, "Hot Pursuit 2" draws primarity from the gameplay and style of "NFS III"; its emphasis was on evading the police and over-the-top tracks featuring lengthy shortcuts. The Italian legal system allows the statute of limitations to continue to run during the course of the trial.

Motor City Online went offline in 2003. However, no definitive conviction sentence has ever been issued on Silvio Berlusconi himself for any of the trials which have concluded so far; in some cases he has been fully acquitted of the alleged charges, in others he has been acquitted with dubitative formula (not proven), or he was acquitted because the statute of limitations expired before a definitive sentence could be issued; in one case a previously granted amnesty extinguished the crime (perjury) before the sentence came into effect. The game allowed players to pit each other in several modes of racing through the Internet, and were allowed customization of the player's driver, garage and vehicles. Some of Berlusconi's close collaborators, friends and firm managers have been found guilty of related crimes, notably his younger brother, Paolo, who in 2002 accepted to pay 52 million euros as a plea bargain to local authorities for various charges including corruption and undue appropriation¹⁷. Although officially bearing no Need for Speed prefix (while the working title of the game was known as Need for Speed: Motor City), Motor City Online, was an MMOG variation of Need for Speed released by EA Games on October 2001, featuring mostly American coupés and muscle cars from the 1930s to the 1970s. Silvio Berlusconi undoubtedly has a rather long record of judicial trials, as several crimes have been alleged to him or his firms (see also the following subsection on Berlusconi's trials), including false accounting, tax fraud, corruption and bribery of police officers and judges. Anyone who manages to finish Factory Driver can be called a great "computer" driver. Sexist jokes are considered bad taste in Nordic countries, but are part of a macho image in Italy, and are therefore more accepted, though far from classy.

Many of the missions were considered to be really difficult. This resulted in an uproar back home, where for a day female deputies in Parliament took part in a cross-party protest. The Factory Driver was also a different kind of unlocking, except to do with performing and excelling in certain slaloms, speed races, deliveries, etc. Before that, speaking to a group of Wall Street traders he listed a series of reasons to invest in Italy, the first of them being that "we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world". The Evolution concept was a hit for many people, creating many new Porsche fans due to the game's high level of academia and depth of Porsche cars. Berlusconi later 'retracted' the comment by saying that anyone who had seen a picture of Halonen must have been aware that he had been joking. It features historical videos and many pictures of old photos of Porsche vehicles. [17].

In terms of game construction, it is most often hailed as Need For Speed's best collaborated effort to bring forth one singular car brand and amplify and deepen the depth of knowledge both on history and motor functions. This caused criticism from both Italy and Finland, with the Italian ambassador in Finland being called by the Finnish foreign minister. In later years, it was released for Game Boy Advance. In mid-May 2005, while opening the European Food Safety Authority in Parma (after the location had previously been preferred over one in Finland and Berlusconi had accused Finns of "not knowing what prosciutto is"), Berlusconi claimed that he had to "blow away the dust from my playboy (in English) arts" with the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to convince her to locate the EFSA in Parma. The game was also the first NFS game that didn't have a split screen mode. Even though Berlusconi insisted that he was only "joking", his comparisons with the Nazis caused a brief diplomatic rift between Italy and Germany. Porsche Unleashed also featured a Factory Driver mode, where the player had to test Porsches with various stunts and move on with his career. Berlusconi replied:.

The player had to win races in the Evolution career mode to unlock cars in chronological order from 1950 to 2000. On July 2, 2003, one day after taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, he was heavily criticised by the German Member of the European Parliament Martin Schulz (from the SPD) because of his domestic policy. The cars handled more realistically than in any other NFS game, and there is an in-depth catalogue of different Porsche parts that span throughout the years. [16]. Porsche Unleashed (US title) and Porsche 2000 (European title) was different from the previous versions because it featured only Porsches and featured a wealth of information regarding them. He later explained that he "was joking", and he meant to create a relaxed climate, that this sort of meeting were meant to "create friendship, cordiality, simpatia and kind relationships" between the participants, and that he wanted to amuse a small group of Boy Scout bystanders. After a race, the player was given the option to purchase repairs. This is a common joke among Italian pre-teens, and many felt it was utterly out of place in an international meeting.

Vehicles which have been involved in accidents featured visibly crushed car bodies and suffered from performance penalties. In February 2002, at a European Union summit of foreign ministers, Berlusconi, present since the replacement of his previous foreign minister, Renato Ruggiero, had not yet been appointed, made a vulgar gesture (the "corna") behind the head of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Piqué, indicating he (Piqué) was a cuckold, exactly at the time of the taking of the official pictures. Another innovation was the introduction of damage models. On April 4 2000, from his electoral ship, he tells a controversial joke about AIDS. Career mode incorporated a monetary reward system that allowed a player to purchase vehicles and performance upgrades while earning cash by racing in a chronological set of tournaments. His sense of humour is perceived to be somewhat coarse, and could be thought to be purposely targeted at the average Italian, if Berlusconi had not been a known figure already before entering politics. Getaway required the player to outrun a pursuing police vehicle for a given time period. Berlusconi himself claims to have resolved his conflict of interest: for example, he cites the fact that he is neither longer president of Mediaset, nor 100% owner.

High Stakes was a racing mode in which the reward was the losing player's car. Critics claim that this situation indicates that laws about conflict of interest and anti-trust are in practice completely ineffective. Nevertheless, High Stakes introduced several new types of gameplay: High Stakes, Getaway and Career. Berlusconi responded to critics by saying that he would not take advantage of these himself, but later he did. It was widely criticised for being too similar to NFS III, especially due to the fact that all of the tracks from NFS III were contained in NFS HS/RC (amongst others). His government has passed some laws that have shortened statutory terms for tax fraud. High Stakes (US title) and Road Challenge (European title) was released in the summer of 1999. Berlusconi has many financial interests, and it is inevitable that a lot of legislation can have a direct financial impact on his fortune.

A community of car builders for the game sprung up as a result. When RAI was being run by a 2-man team appointed by the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (both in Berlusconi's coalition), the state broadcaster lost a significant market share to the rival Mediaset group, owned and run by the Berlusconi family, which has led to large personal gain. This game also was the first to allow the downloading of additional car models. Controversy concerning Berlusconi's conflicts of interest are normally centered around the use of his media and marketing power for political gain; however, there is also controversy regarding financial gains. NFS III took advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the CD-ROM by featuring audio commentary, picture slideshows and music videos. RAI continued to be run by a two-man team (mockingly nicknamed by the opposition i giapponesi, "the Japanese" after the Japanese soldiers that kept fighting in the Pacific ocean after the end of World War II). It is the highest-selling of all Need for Speed games and is the most popular one. During the Baldassarre presidency of RAI, the two opposition directors and the one closer to UDC left for internal disagreements, usually centered on censorship issues.

The objective was to unlock the rewards by winning races. There is also a parliamentary supervisory commission, where the president is customarily a member of the opposition. Most cars and tracks were available at the beginning of the game. In practice the decision is a political one, which generally results in some opposition representatives becoming directors, but with a majority in the hands of the government candidates; typical numbers used to be two directors and the president for the parliamentary majority, and two directors for the opposition. NFS III added Hot Pursuit mode, in which the player either attempted to outrun the police or be the cop, arresting speeders. The law delegated the presidents of the Chamber and Deputies to elect the president of RAI and the board of directors. The special edition of NFS II included one extra track, extra cars, and support for Glide, the then-burgeoning 3D graphics standard used in 3Dfx's Voodoo and Voodoo 2 graphics cards. The conflict-of-interest issues can be better understood in the context of the structure of control of the state media.

In addition, track design was more open-ended; players could now "drive" off the asphalt, and even cut across fields to take advantage of shortcuts. In fact the FNSI, the Trade Union for Italian Journalists, organized a three day long strike to show support to the former director of the newspaper. Though the gameplay was arcade-like, the levels were intricately well designed. Yet the resignations of the director of Corriere della Sera, Ferruccio de Bortoli, were seen as a grasp for more media control from the government. Many fans of the first edition of Need for Speed were disappointed to find NFS II was arcade-like instead of preserving the realism of NFS. It is also true that while the distribution of newspapers in Italy is lower than most other European countries (100 copies per 1000 individuals compared to 500 per 1000 in Scandinavian countries [15]), the majority of national press, which includes the three largest Italian printed dailies, La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera and La Stampa, tends to report independently of the Berlusconi government or (in the case of La Repubblica, among the three major newspapers cited above) to be very openly critical of it. A new racing mode was also introduced in NFS II dubbed Knockout, where the last racers to finish laps will be elimated until the only leading racer remains, and wins. In response to such claims, Mediaset, Berlusconi's television group, has stated that it uses the same criteria as the public (state-owned) television RAI in assigning a proper visibility to all the most important political parties and movements (the so-called 'Par Condicio').

NFS II featured some of the rarest and most exotic vehicles ever available, including the Ford Indigo concept vehicle, and features country-themed tracks from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Mediaset, one of Berlusconi's companies, sued the Italian state broadcasting company RAI because of the Guzzanti show asking for 20 million Euros for "damages" and from November 2003 she was forced to appear only in theatres around Italy. This is the last game in the series to support DOS as future releases for the PC will only run on Microsoft Windows 95 or above. The TV broadcasting of a satirical program called RAIOT was censored in November 2003 after the comedienne, Sabina Guzzanti, made outspoken criticism of the Berlusconi media empire [14]. The Windows 95 version supported DirectX 2 and TCP/IP networking, included 2 bonus tracks and various enhancements in the game engine. Left-wing politicians and media refer to this episode as the Sofia Diktat. Available only on PC CD-ROM, it contained both a DOS and Windows 95 version. The four have never appeared in any TV shows since then.

A little known edition of Need for Speed, Special Edition is sometimes considered as the lost episode of Need for Speed, though it wasn't significantly different from the 1995 PC release. Berlusconi's influence over RAI became evident when in Sofia, Bulgaria he expressed his views on the journalists Enzo Biagi, Michele Santoro [13], and comedian Daniele Luttazzi after his satiric behaviour and his interview with journalist Marco Travaglio. The game also contained precise vehicle data with spoken commentary. [12]. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behaviour, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. Reporters Without Borders states that in 2004, "The conflict of interests involving prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his vast media empire was still not resolved and continued to threaten news diversity".[11] In April 2004, the International Federation of Journalists joined the criticism, objecting to the passage of a law vetoed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2003, which critics believe is designed to protect Berlusconi's alleged 90% control of national media. The first installment of the NFS series was beyond doubt the only serious attempt to provide a realistic simulation of car handling and physics without arcade elements. The Freedom of the Press 2004 Global Survey, an annual study issued by the American organization Freedom House, downgraded Italy's ranking from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' [10] on the basis of Berlusconi's influence over RAI, a ranking which, in "Western Europe" was shared only with Turkey (2005).

The initial version also featured an obnoxious opponent who taunted the player if the computer won the race or the player got arrested (which happened with the third ticket.). Berlusconi's extensive control of the media has been linked to claims that Italy's media shows limited freedom of expression. The first version featured chases by police cars which remained a popular theme throughout the series - the so-called Hot Pursuit editions (Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted) have sold better in the marketplace than intervening versions. [9] This figure includes stations he owns directly as well as those he has indirect control of through his position as Prime Minister and his ability to influence the choice of the management bodies of these stations. The original Need for Speed was released for 3DO in 1994 with versions for PlayStation, PC (DOS), and Sega Saturn following shortly afterwards (1995 and 1996). In any event, according to The Economist, Berlusconi, in his position as prime minister of Italy, now has effective control of 90% of all national television broadcasting. Since then EA Blackbox has been NFS's primary developer. The war of words between Berlusconi and the Economist has been infamous and widely reported, with Berlusconi taking the publication to court in Rome and The Economist publishing open letters against him [8].

Blackbox was acquired by Electronic Arts shortly before the game's publication and the company was renamed Electronic Arts Blackbox. One of Berlusconi's strongest critics in the media outside Italy is the British weekly The Economist (nicknamed by Berlusconi "The Ecommunist"). In 2002, another Vancouver-based gaming company, named Blackbox Software, was contracted to continue the series with the title Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. In December 2002, Berlusconi astonished observers when he suggested that laid-off FIAT workers should take illegal non-tax-paying jobs to make ends meet.[7]. Electronic Arts Canada and Electronic Arts Seattle continued to develop, and expand the Need For Speed franchise for many years. Even when she left his coalition, he tempted in all ways to keep her in it. The company capitalized on its experience in the domain when it began developing the Need For Speed series in late 1992. Among the members of parliament elected with him is Alessandra Mussolini, grand daughter of Benito.

Prior to EA Canada's purchase by Electronic Arts in 1991, the company was known as Distinctive Software, and had already created popular racing games such as Stunts and Test Drive II. Berlusconi later claimed that he did not mean to white-wash Mussolini, that he only reacted to a comparison, which he felt unfair, between the fascist dictator and Saddam Hussein. Need for Speed was originally developed by EA Canada, a game studio based in Vancouver, Canada. On another occasion, Berlusconi stated that "Benito Mussolini's regime hadn't killed a single person" and that Mussolini "just used to send opposers on holiday", thus apparently denying or dismissing a long series of fascist crimes, from the murder of Giacomo Matteotti to the infamous fascist concentration camps (Rab, Gonars, etc). . On one occasion, Berlusconi claimed that Benito Mussolini had been the greatest statesman in Italian history. The games consist of racing with various cars on various tracks. This law wasn't signed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi so it will have to go to both houses of parliament again.

Need for Speed (NFS) is a series of racing computer and video games by Electronic Arts released on platforms including personal computers, Nintendo, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles. One of the last bills was a penal code reform forbidding prosecutors to appeal against absolution sentences (defendants can still appeal, though). a bill about the Winter Olympics also included controversial provisions tightening penalties for drugs use and peddling. E.g. In the last few days of the term, his parliament majority is approving many controversial laws, sometimes hiding one measure into a totally unrelated law.

Other pieces of legislation included:. The First Pass the Post system is abolished, even if it was voted by the people in the referendum of 1993 and even if a referendum to strengthen the system failed because the needed quorum was not reached in 1999 for a few voters. In October 2005, Berlusconi forced a reform of electoral law. As of January 2006, the reform has been approved by the Parliament and a referendum called by the opposition is pending.

Many experts of constitutional law think it is fraught with potential disfunctionalities. This reform is disputed, because it has been imposed only by repressing the former separatist party Lega Nord, and without an adequate sharing with the opposition. Berlusconi has forced through the Parliament an overall constitutional reform to deepen the current federal form of the State and strengthen the power of the Prime Minister. The new pensions' law, issued on July 2004, raised the minimum age for retirement and added incentives for delayed retirement.

Under previous law, it had to be confirmed every two years. A less known law made the so called "Articolo 41 bis" punitive jail regime for mafia leaders a permanent provision. The law was initially vetoed by the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, on charges of being anti-constitutional, but it was then forced into law by the Parliament. The legislation also enabled the roll-out of digital television and internet based publishing, and hence his government claimed it resolved the problem of conflict of interest and his media monopoly "by opening up more channels".

Among other things, such legislation increased the maximum limit on an individual's share of the media market, allowing Berlusconi to retain control of his three national TV channels. In a controversial move, the Berlusconi government also passed a new media reform legislation. Also, well-known (because regulating aspects of every-day life) legislative acts were:. Berlusconi's government passed many pieces of legislation, among which:.

The opposition Union coalition is currently trying to amass 500,000 signatures in order to call a referendum in which they are "confident" that the "Italian people will reject it.". Difficulties in arranging a mediation caused some internal unrest in the Berlusconi government in 2003, but then they were mostly overcome and the law (comprising power devolution to the regions, Federal Senate, "strong premiership" and to be complemented with a new electoral law) was passed by the Senate in April 2004; it was slightly modified by the Chamber of Deputies in October 2004,and again on October 2005 and has finally been approved by the Senate on November 16, 2005 by 170 to 132 votes (and three abstentations). A key point of the government program is the planned reform of the Constitution, an issue the coalition parties themselves initially had significantly different opinions about, with Lega Nord insisting on the federal reform (devolution of more power to the Regions) as the condition itself for remaining in the coalition; Alleanza Nazionale pushing for the so-called "strong premiership" (more powers to the executive), meant as a counterweight to the federal reform, to preserve the State unity; UDC asking for an electoral law not damaging small parties (more proportional) and being generally more willing to find a compromise with the moderate wing of the opposition. It must be noted the Italian State has historically a large debt (at the present time 106% of GDP) whose cost heavily burdens the annual budgets.

The EU Commission also pushes for a strict budget control, to meet the European mandatory standards. The opposition claims these programs are not realistic in the present economic trend. The government confirms the agenda to reduce taxes and simplify the taxation system for both privates and enterprises (Berlusconi himself engaged personally during his electoral campaign). Italy has some 2,700 troops deployed in Southern Iraq, the third largest contingent there after the American and British forces.

Bush, said that he pushed for "a clear turnaround in the Iraqi situation" and for a quick hand-over of sovereignty to the government chosen by the U.N. President George W. Berlusconi, in his meetings with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.S. Italy, with Berlusconi in office, became a substantial ally to the United States of America in 2003 as Berlusconi supported the American/British-led Iraq War to oust the regime of Saddam Hussein.

and many other founding members of European Union (Germany, France, Belgium), a break from the traditional Italian foreign policy. The Berlusconi government has had a strong tendency to support American foreign policies despite the policy divide between the U.S. The government, after introducing a controversial immigration law (the "Bossi-Fini", from the names of Lega Nord and Alleanza Nazionale leaders) is searching for the cooperation of both European and other Mediterranean countries to face the emergency of the large number of immigrants trying to reach Italian coasts on old and overloaded ferries and fishing boats, risking (and, often, losing) their life. [6] Even so, a number of measures have been taken, but the effects are controversial.

Berlusconi himself has shown some reluctance to pursue such policies as strongly as his allies might like. Some allies of Berlusconi, especially Lega Nord (Northern League) push for a strong control of immigration and getting their support has required some changes in policies from Berlusconi. Every man in the party apparatus is appointed by Berlusconi himself: for all these reasons, its political opponents call Forza Italia "the plastic party". There are no known factions or currents; at present three party conventions have been held, all of them resolved to support Berlusconi, and his re-election by acclamation.

Internal democracy in the party is very low and internal dissent virtually non-existent. However, Forza Italia officially joined the European People's Party in 1999, theoretically choosing to be identified mainly as a Christian Democratic party. Forza Italia could be considered a liberal party on economical issues, although references to liberalism were more common in the initial years of the party development than they are now; some consider Forza Italia a populist party. As he founded his Forza Italia party and entered politics, Berlusconi expressed support for "freedom, the individual, family, enterprise, Italian tradition, Christian tradition and love for weaker people" [5].

He is strongly supported by the Northern League, but opposed by UDC and AN. Tremonti had been the Minister of Economy just few years earlier, but was forced to resign. Another controversial move was the nomination of Giulio Tremonti as Vice-Prime Minister. There have been harsh criticisms on Berlusconi's choices: the ministry of Health, previously occupied by Girolamo Sirchia, a famous doctor, has been given to Francesco Storace, who, only a few weeks earlier, lost the regional elections in Latium.

A key point required by UDC (and to a minor extent by AN) was to reduce the focus on tax reduction the government had had, because this was considered incompatible with Italy's financial situation. On April 23 he formed a new government with the same allies, but with some changes in the ministers and in the program. Berlusconi thus presented to the President of the Republic the dissolution of his government on April 20, 2005, after much hesitation. Two parties (UDC and NPSI) left the Berlusconi government.

In the last local elections (April 3 and April 4, 2005), the opposition The Union (formerly known as Olive Tree) won easily 12 of 14 regions where there was a vote; Berlusconi's coalition held in only two regions (Lombardy and Veneto). As an outcome of these results the other coalition parties, whose electoral results were more satisfactory, asked Berlusconi and Forza Italia for more influence in the government's political line. Forza Italia's support also reduced from 29.5% to 21.0% (in the 1999 European elections Forza Italia had 25.2%). Casa delle Libertà has done less well in the 2003 local elections in comparison with the 2001 national elections, and, in common with many other European governing groups, in the 2004 elections of the European Parliament, gaining 43.37% support.

Anyway, Berlusconi himself has always claimed he achieved all the goals of the agreement. In particoular, the Italian GDP grew very slowly during Berlusconi's Government, and the public debt rose fastly. Even if the opposition and some allied parties recognized Berlusconi could not achieve what he promised in the contract, most of his allies agree in finding the reasons of this failure in the unfavourable economical condition Italy is living. In this unofficial agreement, Berlusconi claimed he could improve several aspects of italian economy and life, as like lowering taxes, increasing employment, building up new pulic works, increasing retirement rents and struggling crime.

In a TV show during the electoral campaign, Berlusconi signed the so called Contratto con gli Italiani (agreement with Italians), that was likely a key step to achieve the victory. His success in this election led to him becoming Prime Minister once more, with the coalition receiving 45.4% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies (Italian's Lower House), and 42.5% for the Senate-House (Italian's Upper House). In 2001 Berlusconi again ran as leader of the centre-right coalition Casa delle Libertà (House of Freedoms) which includes Alleanza Nazionale, UDC (Christian Democrats), Lega Nord and other parties. [4].

In 1996, the ad-interim coalition formed by Northern League and centre-left was replaced, after a new election, by a centre-leftist government (without the League) led by Romano Prodi. The coalition of opposition parties (now including the League) then replaced him. In December 1994, the Northern League left the coalition claiming that the electoral pact had not been respected, forcing Berlusconi to resign from office and moving the majority's weight to the centre-left side. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1994, but his term in office was short because of the inherent contradictions in his coalition, between the League, a regional party with a strong electoral base in northern Italy, which was at that time oscillating between federalist and separatist positions, and National Alliance, a nationalist party which only then started dropping references to fascist ideology and symbols.

One of the most clamorous promises he did to win was "one million jobs more". Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks, and he won the elections, with Forza Italia ranking first party with 21% of popular vote. Berlusconi founded Forza Italia only two months before the 1994 elections; he formed two separate electoral alliances, with the Northern League in northern-Italian colleges, and with post-fascist National Alliance in the center and south; in a pragmatic move, he did not ally with the latter in the North, as the League disliked them: Forza Italia was then allied with two parties that were not allied with each other. They regarded: alleged bribes (to political parties and public officers in the aim of getting contracts), alleged fake invoices of Publitalia, political congress financing and television frequencies.

Furthermore, the creditor banks started asking for their money back and the advertising income stopped growing after the big increases of the previous years.
Between 1992 and 1993, Fininvest encountered several judicial investigations by Milan, Turin and Rome prosecutors. While investigating these matters, a journalist mentioned some facts:
Mediobanca's annual report about the 10 biggest Italian companies, showed that in 1992 Berlusconi's media and fincance group Fininvest had about 7140 billion lire of debts, while its net worth amounted to 'just' 1053. Instead, Berlusconi's supporters hailed him as the "new man" that was to bring the public bureaucracy to new efficiency and to reform the state from top to bottom; they argued that he was so rich that he would have no interest in using politics to become even richer, and regarding his trials they also argued that just after Berlusconi entered into politics, his opponents tried to get rid of him by a judicial persecution. Some critics argued that Berlusconi did it to take care of his own interests, being saving his own companies from bankruptcy and himself from convictions.

One of the most debated matters about Berlusconi has been about the true reasons Berlusconi entered into politics. This because just couple of weeks before he decided to enter into politics, the Mani Pulite affair was very close to issuing warrants for him and the chief executives of his group. This led to the expectation that elections would be won by the Democratic Party of the Left (Partito Democratico della Sinistra), (the former Communist Party and the main opposition party) and their allies of the Progressive coalition, unless there was a strong alternative: Berlusconi publicly announced on January 26th 1994 his decision to enter politics ("Going down onto the field", in his words) on a platform centered on the defeat of communism. In the early 1990s, the two largest Italian majority Parties, the Christian Democrats (Democrazia Cristiana) and the Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano) lost much of their electoral strength due to a large number of judicial accusations of corruption for their foremost members (see the Mani Pulite affair).

Berlusconi also owns the football club AC Milan which some think has been an important factor in the success of his political career ("Forza Italia" means "Go Italy!", and before the party was founded it was connected to football supporters of the national team [3]). His brother controls Il Giornale, and his wife Il Foglio, both centre-right newspapers that print a lot fewer daily copies than the more popular Il Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica. Berlusconi's main group, called Mediaset, comprises three national television channels, which hold approximately half the national viewing audience; and Publitalia, the leading Italian advertising and publicity agency; Berlusconi also owns Mondadori, the largest Italian publishing house, which publishes Panorama, a news magazine; he has interests in cinema and home video distribution firms (Medusa and Penta), insurance and banking (Mediolanum) and a variety of other activities. In 1999 Berlusconi expanded again in the media business in a partnership with Kirch called the Epsilon MediaGroup.

In 1995, Berlusconi sold a portion of his media holdings, first to the German media group Kirch (now bankrupt) and then by public trading. Only in the 1990's was the government monopoly on information ended. For many years, the three italian TV channels owned by Berlusconi were not allowed to broadcast news and political commentary, yet they formed the main alternative to the three State-owned channels Rai Uno, Rai Due and Rai Tre. In 1986, Berlusconi tried also to expand in France with his channel La Cinq, but the project failed and he had to leave in 1990.

A strong help to his successful effort to create the first and only Italian commercial TV empire is due to his link with Bettino Craxi, at that time secretary-general of Italian Socialist Party and prime minister of Italy. In 1980 he founded Italy's first private national network Canale 5, shortly followed by Italia 1 bought from The Rusconi family (1982) and Rete 4 (1984) bought from Mondadori. This was illegal at the time, since Italian law reserved the monopoly of national TV broadcasting to the public television. Fininvest was to expand to a country wide network of local TV stations which would all broadcast the same materials, forming, in effect, a single national station.

Among the banks that helped in this funds transfer was the above mentioned Banca Rasini. The funding sources are still unknown, because of the complex system of holding companies that makes them impossible to be determined. In 1978 Berlusconi formed his first media group, Fininvest, that in five years, till 1983, was going to earn 113 billion lire (the equivalent of about 260 milion euro at 1997 value). Berlusconi later stated that he was absolutely unaware of who Mangano really was when he hired him.

Mangano left spontaneously in late 1976, concerned about Berlusconi's reputation, since many newspapers started making a scandal about his relationship to him. Berlusconi kept Mangano as an employee despite his criminal record dating back to the 1960s, and never dismissed him even when, during his time as employee in the Villa, he was imprisoned because of convictions, and suspected of arranging the kidnapping of a friend of Berlusconi. Officially Mangano was hired by Berlusconi as stable keeper, but he also took care of the Villa's security and took sometimes Berlusconi's children to school. Marcello Dell'Utri, a close Berlusconi's friend and coworker, brought in this Villa the young Mafia boss Vittorio Mangano, from Palermo (Sicily).

In 1974 Berlusconi moves with his family into Villa Casati, in Milan. His first entry into the media world was in 1973 by means of a cable television station, Telemilano, designed to service his Milano 2 residential development. Berlusconi's business career began in the construction business in the 1960s. Berlusconi did not serve the standard one-year stint in the army which was compulsory at the time.

After completing his secondary school education at a Salesian college, which he worked his way through as a singing waiter, he then studied law at the Università Statale in Milan, graduating cum laude with a thesis on the legal aspects of advertising in 1961. Palermo judges indicated Banca Rasini among those that were used for mafia money laundering, according to an interview of Michele Sindona by Nick Tosches²². Silvio takes a special pride that his father started his career in Banca Rasini as an employee and left as general manager. Silvio was the first of three children, the others being Maria Antonietta Berlusconi (born 1943) and Paolo Berlusconi (born 1949), now both entrepreneurs.

Berlusconi was born in an upper middle-class family in Milan; his father Luigi worked at a small bank, Banca Rasini, of which he became general manager in the 1960s before retiring. . Milan football team between 1986 and 2004; after his resignation - dictated by law - on December 26, 2004 the team didn't however elect a new president [2], so he is now merely the owner of the team. He was also the President of the A.C.

According to Forbes Magazine, Silvio Berlusconi is Italy's richest person, a self-made man with personal assets worth $12,000,000,000 (USD) in 2005, making him the world's 25th richest person ^[1]. He is also the owner and founder of an Italian media empire. On April 23, 2005, he formed a new government without many changes. On April 20, 2005, Berlusconi tendered the resignation of his government after losses in regional elections and internal problems in his coalition.

In 2001, he was appointed to the office again; the second Berlusconi government is the longest-lasting in Italy's republican history. Berlusconi served as Prime Minister for a short term (seven months) in 1994. He is the leader of the Forza Italia political movement, a party which he officially announced in January 1994, to run for the first time in the general election in March of the same year. Silvio Berlusconi (help·info) (born September 29, 1936) is the current Prime Minister of Italy.

[19], [20] Journalists Marco Travaglio (interviewed by Daniele Luttazzi in his show Satyricon). Origini e misteri delle fortune di Silvio Berlusconi (Elio Veltri and Marco Travaglio, 2001, Editori Riuniti, ISBN 88-359-5007-4). L'odore dei soldi. ISBN 3-426-03970-2.

Die Affäre Sindona. München 1987. (de) Geschäfte mit dem Vatikan. 316 pages) Dewey class: 332.1. le memorie e le rivelazioni di Michele Sindona (Published in Milano by editor SugarCo in 1986.

(it) Il mistero Sindona. (en) Power On Earth, 1986, Arbor House Pub Co, USA, ISBN 0877957967. New York Times journalist Nick Tosches interviewes with Michele Sindona, while imprisoned in the United States: