World of Warcraft In the Axis of Evil

Kotaku is running a piece by Wagner James Au, discussing the place World of Warcraft has in 'The Axis of Evil'. From the article: "Then again, there's little reason to think the ban was enforced much at all. Veteran WoW players tell me they often raid with folks who say they are Coalition troops in Iraq who've cleverly hacked around military firewalls to log in. And while it's doubtful that anyone but Kim Jung-Il and his geek cronies could log into World of Warcraft from North Korea, there's still an embargo on Iran."

Comments

WoW belongs in the axis of evil

[pHatidic]

Rule of thumb: Anything that allows you to "level up" is out to fuck you, take your money, or both. Examples: School, military, corporate hierarchy, catholic church, world of warcraft, scientology, etc.

Now if you're both in the military and addicted to WoW then you're really in trouble. That's either the second or the fourth circle of hell, depending on how the maths work. Either way it isn't good.

Re:WoW belongs in the axis of evil

[thelost]

If I become catholic as well will I get to the fifth circle? If so I'm gettin' that addon! Level 5 here I come.

Not WW2

[Animaether]

You're thinking of the Axis Powers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_Powers
This is about the Axis of Evil - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil

Regardless, WoW should have nothing to do with either of them apart from legislation restricting export of certain goods, such as software, to countries to which the originating country holds an embargo - such as Iran.
I had to look into that for the software developed at our country as well to see if we could sell to a potential customer in Iraq - and we could after it was 'liberated'.
Fore more information, see:

Supplement No. 2 to Part 774 - General Technology and Software Notes
( http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/txt/774_sup2.txt )

Point 2:
2. General Software Note. License Exception TSU (\"mass market\" software) is available to all destinations, except countries in Country Group E:1 of Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of the EAR, for release of software that is generally available to the public by being:

Supplement No. 1 to part 740 of the EAR
( http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/txt/740spir.txt )

E:1 Countries - Terrorist Supporting Countries
Cuba, Iran, \"Korea, North\", Libya, Sudan, Syria

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Rob T Firefly]

I do hope this doesn't come off as insensitive or anything, but for some reason I'd be dubious if faced with an online avatar of someone who claims to have hacked past a US Military firewall - that is, hacked past a US Military Firewall - to do something as bandwidth-sucking and most likely specifically not allowed as playing a damn MMO.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this, as I'd love to think that even in a hellish war zone my fellow gamers can get their fix, but it just doesn't seem like something that would actually be allowed to happen all that much. And even if against all odds and logic it somehow did happen, I doubt said gamers would be bragging about their exploits in a damned text chat.

The idea that people who are sitting comfortably at home playing a computer game may be fishing for some sort of street cred or sympathy by falsely claiming to be among those whose lives are being put on the line is completely disgusting on every level.

Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[tangent3]

From http://vnboards.ign.com/wow_general_board/b19789/9 6506468/p1/?73

Just got banned today after playing WOW because I am not currently in North America. Apparently Blizzard does not care about those who are stationed abroad in the Armed Forces and working for them. I purchased WOW in the Post Exchange in Seoul Korea on the Yongsan Army Base there, which is considered by law, U.S. Soil. I installed the game and created my account using my U.S. Credit Card from Delaware. My billing address was an APO, AP address which stands for Armed Forces Pacific, Army Postal. After playing the game for 3 months I got an email stating this:

" Access to the World of Warcraft account BTOBEYONDER, and all World of Warcraft accounts associated with the payment information you have provided, has been permanently disabled. It is implicitly stated on the account creation page that: This account creation process is only available to customers in North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. As a result, the account(s) will no longer be accessible in any way and will not be reopened under any circumstances. Thank you for your time and understanding in this matter.

Regards,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment "

Re:Most countries are banned from WoW, too

[Kadin2048]

Wow, if that's true, that's really a load of crap on their part.

I'll be honest, I play WoW from time to time and thus maintain my account there (so my character doesn't get dumped), but Blizzard has really begun to grate on me. They're starting to become one of those organizations that I just feel vaguely dirty for associating with, much less paying a subscription fee to.

I'd encourage anyone serving overseas at a military installation or embassy who's been given the shaft by Blizzard to publicize it as widely as you can; there's nothing that really inflames Ma and Pa Kettle like a corporation being dicks to troops overseas, and I could easily see an organization like Blizzard which is highly dependent on public opinion bowing to pressure and changing their policy in a hurry.

Re:Cuba?

[DesireCampbell]

"I can't understand the US attitude to Cuba - can't trade with them but renting space for a naval base is OK"

That's the only thing about US policy you don't understand? :p

Re:Leave Our Troops Alone

[Xaositecte]

In Comm squadrons over here (Yes, I'm in Iraq this very moment) - we've got a network morale drive filled with games, movies, etc. - all of which our leadership doesn't mind us using so long as we don't have anything better to do at the moment.

Communications jobs in the Air Force aren't exactly filled with tasks, so we've got a lot of free time to play around. Nobody here is a WoW addict to my knowledge, but it wouldn't be terribly difficult to pull off, and no-one would care even if they did.