Facepalm. A prime example of people too stupid to understand taking pictures of military installations is banned worldwide . And no it doesn't matter that they are devs to the authorities .
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from Bohemia Interactive's CEO:
"My colleagues and I were shocked when we found out about the detention of our co-workers and friends, Martin Pezlar and Ivan Buchta, on the Greek island of Lemnos. Everybody who knows them realizes that they’re not spies and certainly never intended to threaten Greek national security.
The guys visited the island as tourists. Their trip to Lemnos was personal, organized via travel agent, with the single goal of experiencing the place that had inspired the virtual environments of Arma 3, a computer game that they’ve been working on over the past two years.
Our company has never gathered or collected any restricted information, such as photos or blueprints of military installations of any nation, nor have we ever tasked anybody else to do it on our behalf. We always respect the law and we develop all of our products using publicly available materials only - Arma 3 is no exception.
According to media sources, the Greek ministry of National Defence actually examined our game, after local authorities raised this topic. They assured that the game is fine. Originally planned for release in autumn of this year, it is based upon a fictional future, set in 2035.
The whole incident is a terrible personal tragedy for Ivan, Martin and their families; I believe it to be no more than a deep misunderstanding, one which will be swiftly explained. I’m ready to support the guys and their families in these difficult times as much as I can."
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But make sure you don't sign it =p. Honestly this is something that will work itself out thanks to political pressure if nothing else. Also I don't think Greece can afford to jail anyone for 20 years!
On a serious note, I haven't read anywhere if they were on marked, private property when they took the pictures or not. I don't know if it makes a difference according to Greek law, but if no trespassing took place then that really takes a lot of wind out of the case.
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You only want to help them out of jail because otherwise the game will be delayed? Shame on you...
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People who need reference to create a military game? Kind of naive of them to think they could do this without consequence though. In fact if they followed the proper channels they might have even been invited to take pictures of certain buildings up close and such. Live and learn I guess.
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Such a shame. They were only trying to get information for the next game only to be arrested because of a military base located on that island. Lolfail.
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So if I made a cheap gaming company to create a few "war simulator" games and went to every country taking pictures of there military bases so I can map my game is silly for me to be arrested?
The military has top secret shit, some that the government isn't aware of lol, nobody has the right to take pictures without permission.
Note: Yes I know they took pics of only 1 base not every countries base, and yes I know they are a legit company, im just saying that if this was a "silly" reason to arrest them then every coutnry would do this to gain intel on each other and boom, WW3 lol
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Welp, I'll close this thing now, having discovered it's old news. Thank you for all your input.
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I'll keep this short(ish).
It seems that Greek athorities are pretty paranoid nowadays, seeing as they have jailed 2 of the developers of the Arma franchise for SPYING because they have taken pictures of a Greek island for the developent of Arma 3. More details here http://www.helpivanmartin.org/
Without some help they could be spending up to 20 years in prison, that would delay the game even longer than Gabe can.
Basically, it'd be a smart idea to sign this petition and hope that they see sense, right?
Right?
EDIT: Apologies for not being specific enough when referring to their picturing as just 'a Greek island' and not the military base on it. It's still pretty bull in my opinion, I'm just trying to spread the word.
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