Diego Liatis says he'll face the potential lawsuit for creating a map of Montreal's Berri-UQAM metro station.
Posted 02.26.2013 at 4:30 pm
6 Comments
Last week, we reported on a gamer facing nearly $50,000 in fines for creating a map of Montreal's Berri-UQAM metro station that officials say poses a security risk. Now Diego Liatis tells Ars Technica that he's going to follow through on releasing the map in March, lawsuit or not.
Liatis spent nine months creating the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map, hoping to make it in time for a Montreal gaming party called LAN ETS 2013. He first asked Montreal's transit authority for permission to create the map, was denied, and went ahead building it anyway.
Transit officials have said re-creating the station could pose security risks for travelers: a terrorist, they argue, could use the map to plot an attack. But the officials are threatening a lawsuit not on safety grounds, but trademark grounds: parts of the train station, including the Société de transport de Montréal name and seal, can't be reproduced, they say. Liatis told Ars Technica it's his right to digitally recreate it just as it's anyone's right to photograph it.
Liatis will be meeting with officials later this week and has said he's willing to take down the transit authority's logo and a recognizable piece of art in the level. Past that, he won't budge. The station's name and logo will stay as is, he says. Even more defiantly, he wants to make more maps for other games based on real Canadian locations.
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I think I would just change the name to something like "Big DumbHead Station" and replace the recognizable art they mentioned with something else satirical and be done with it. Just remove what they can easily make a case about and turn it into a "look how stupid these people are" map.
But then again, I'm super mature.
I like the spirit of that guy. Censure is censure and it is also a ridiculous idea to think that terrorists would use that game to prepare a shoot-out. I understand that it can make people uncomfortable and is of questionable taste but they are pushing too far.
Battlefield 3 used a map called metro that is based on a subway station in Paris, I don't see how this is any different. Countless shooter games use real places for maps and do not get sued. Those french lawyers are jerks!
I use the Berri-Uqam station a lot in Montreal this being recreated in CS does not worry me. One could argue the ability to use this to plan terrorist attacks could also be just as valuable tool to counter terrorist attacks. So if they honestly believe thats the case, then every officer within that area should play CS to brush up on their skills. Because the map being there isnt going to really help a terrorist plan an attack if thats their real goal.
@hatandboots
Seriously, are you re-reading you sometimes?
Are you a total ignorant about geography or just a basic hater coming out of nowhere?
Montreal is a french speaking province of Canada, why spit on french lawyers?
Please apologize for your stupidity.
@Winston514,
Unless something has changed drastically in the past 10 minutes, Montreal is a city, located in the french speaking province of Quebec. While I would really love for Montreal to be it's own separate province, it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon. You may want to brush up on your geography before blasting someone else for their "stupidity".