I am planning on going to Italy to stay with a friend who lives there, and i want to stay longer than 90 days. I have been doing a lot of research and have found it all to be very confusing. I have talked to people who traveled Europe for a year, travel agents, and much much more. I am willing to be a "journalist" or a "freelance writer" or whatever it takes. Please help me out, and not just link me to the Italian consulate general.

Dillon
Legally You can stay in Italy for 3 month. Are you from the USA ? When you arrive in the US from Italy they give you a paper that you have to give back at the border to exit the country. When you arrive in Italy there is no such a thing however. It is not legal but in reality nobody really takes track of when you arrived. I heard of people who came to Italy from the US and staid years. The real issue is when you need to work - In that case you will need a permesso di soggiorno and a working permit. There are agencies that might be able to help.

Yes Paolo you're right, that law is purely theoretical (just like a good amount of laws here ), I think they never even check. How could they anyways, without releasing a document?
I too know people who stood here longer without any permission. Moreover, Italy seems to consider anyone from Eastern Europe, Africa or Asia as potential abusive immigrants, while the average US or European person is classified as tourist at first sight. strange country of ours!

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My impression is that you can stay in the country as a tourist for as long as you want. But you cannot work for more than 90 days without a special permit. I don't know special rules for Italy but I traveled quite a bit and even worked in different countries.

E.g. I worked in New Zealand and Hong Kong for 3 months each without a permit (as a representative of a US company). My understanding is that you need work permit after 90 days (but not during the first 90 days). I also remained in those countries after my assignments were over and traveled. So my total stay exceeded 90 days in both cases. I had no problem reentering the US after that (I'm a citizen). Nobody asked how long I was abroad. US customs only cared for the US passport to reentry the States.

Well Russian you need a work permit ( I think ) even if you want to work for less than 90 days. Unless of course you are paid from a business in the USA or an out of Italy entity.

Zidanie : Yes people from the USA are considered different. I personally would do a work / free movement agreement between Europe and USA so people could work in both places legally. I am afraid we cannot do the same with Asia - with India alone having 1.7 Billion people Italy would be invaded immediately by hundreds of millions.

Yes I am from the US, and i really appreciate your guys information. My father was very concerned that i was going to get arrested and put in jail and all this, and i just needed some fellow traveler advice that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm not going to work, I'm going to travel Italy and possibly a couple other countries. I am heading out early October and coming back early early April. Should be fun. If anyone wants to donate to the dillonster goes to Italy fund let me know

Dillon,
what is said by Paolo, Russian and Zidanie is true. It is not legal to stay for more than 90 days but Italian police force is not worried about US citizens,as well as French, English, Canadian and generally European Community. The problem is Eastern people, African and Asian. So don't worry, enjoy your european tour!