Microsoft Blocks Messenger In Five Embargoed Countries

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday May 23, 2009 @04:22AM from the but-can-they-still-tweet dept.

Spooky McSpookster writes "Microsoft has turned off its Windows Live Messenger service for five countries: Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. Users in these countries trying to log in get the following error: '810003c1: We were unable to sign you in to the .NET Messenger Service.' Why now, since this flies in the face of the Obama administration's softening stance on Cuba? This isn't the first time the US trade embargo has had questionable outcomes. US-based Syrian political activist George Ajjan created a web site promoting democracy in Syria, only to find GoDaddy blocked anyone inside Syria from seeing it. The article argues, 'Messenger is a medium for communication, and the citizens of these countries should not be punished from such a basic tool because the US has problems with their governments' policies.' What does this say for the wisdom of non-US citizens relying on US companies for their business or communication?"

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Re:Anonymous Coward by sakdoctor · 2009-05-23 05:26 · Score: 0, Troll

Phone (Santa Clara USA): +1 (408) 327 9830 x328
Who cares anyway? by BrokenHalo · 2009-05-23 06:14 · Score: 0, Troll

Does anyone still use any Microsoft products any more? After all, I thought Linux and OS X occupied something like 98% of the market. Nobody would ever notice if Microsoft stopped making its services available to these countries, much less care.

;-)