Iranian Players Blocked From World of Warcraft Due To Trade Sanctions

cold fjord writes "Is this the end of the world . . . of Warcraft? Maybe for Iranian gamers who are undergoing a forced morale check due to tightening sanctions cutting access to their game of choice. From the article: 'Iranian players of "World of Warcraft" ... have found themselves frozen out by Blizzard Activision Inc., the American company behind the game. Iranian role playing enthusiasts have spent much of the past week peppering Blizzard's message board with complaints about how they weren't able to log on to the service — only to be told recently that U.S. law was to blame. "United States trade restrictions and economic sanction laws prohibit Blizzard from doing business with residents of certain nations, including Iran," the company said in an email sent to players last week...'" Thanks to the sanctions, they can't get refunds either.

Comments

When I was a kid we thought America was free

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember growing up during the Cold War, and being taught all the pro-U.S. propaganda: The Russian space program sucks. You don't need papers to travel in the U.S. unlike the USSR. U.S,. citizens were free to travel anywhere, unlike those poor Soviets. Only Poland cracked down on labor unions and dissedents. And so on.

It was only after I grew up and learned to see through the bullshit that I realized that was all lies. We had been lied to just as much as the Soviets. The Russian space program is filled with firsts that American students never learned about (we only got the NASA stuff and a brief mention of Sputnik). You DAMN SURE DO need papers to travel in the U.S. (try getting pull over by a cop sometime and tell him you have no identification, driver's license, proof of insurance, and registration and just see what happens, or try coming here sometime to see if the cops accept "We don't need no papers, this is America!" in lieu of your passport/green card/visa). Polish labor unions weren't the only ones that got cracked down on in the 80's. And American are ABSOLUTELY NOT allowed to travel anywhere they wish (try joining your European friend on his vacation in Cuba sometime if you think so).

And if you're American you are also prohibited from doing business with any country the American government doesn't like (which are usually the ones who dared overthrow one of the U.S.'s corrupt puppet regimes).

Land of the free...not so much.

Stupid

[stoolpigeon]

I'm always shocked at just how much American culture has spread world wide. And the thing is - it often works in our favor. Iranian kids playing WoW can't in any way benefit Iran that I can think of, but has multiple benefits for the U.S. Someone from the gov should be on the horn right now getting those accounts reactiviated.

Re:Stupid

[RogueyWon]

Actually, I doubt that Blizzard's actions are related to any recent change of policy by the US Government. Rather, it's about companies looking differently at how current policies might be applied in the wake of the HSBC case that's running at the moment (which may or may not be a piece of Wall Street protectionism).

I can't prove it, because obviously they'll have updated their registration systems now, but I'd be prepared to bet that Blizzard have never allowed the registration of accounts (or at least the purchase of games or subscriptions on accounts) where the customer identified themselves as being from Iran. They - and quite a lot of other companies - would have been operating on the principle that this was enough to get them legally in the clear against charges of dealing with regimes subject to sanctions.

The HSBC case has shown (among other things) that getting customers to tick a box certifying that they aren't from such a country is not, in fact, enough to prevent you from having to answer some fairly scary questions. I suspect Blizzard have just looked at their legal risk register and decided that they need to move to an IP-blocking system. So it's not actually a change of policy by either the US Government or Blizzard - but rather a change in approach and methodology.

Re:It was even available to begin with?

[jkflying]

Perhaps it's not quite as bad there as you've been led to believe?