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EA Blocks 'Origin' Access In Six Countries, Citing US Embargoes (pcgamer.com)
An anonymous reader writes: "In compliance with US embargoes and sanctions laws, Origin is not available in Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine (Crimea region)," a community manager from EA posted in September. Engadget calls it "a reminder of the risks you take when buying copy-protected game downloads... Even if you started your account elsewhere, you aren't allowed to either visit the Origin store or use any of your purchased games."
Sunday an employee at EA's Origin game store commented "This isn't an EA-specific issue -- it's an issue that impacts all companies offering services that are covered by trade embargoes." But since the U.S. lifted sanctions on Myanmar in September, EA "is internally reviewing the situation... It's unclear to me whether we can do anything for residents of other countries that are still similarly embargoed, but I'll bring the topic up for discussion internally."
Sunday an employee at EA's Origin game store commented "This isn't an EA-specific issue -- it's an issue that impacts all companies offering services that are covered by trade embargoes." But since the U.S. lifted sanctions on Myanmar in September, EA "is internally reviewing the situation... It's unclear to me whether we can do anything for residents of other countries that are still similarly embargoed, but I'll bring the topic up for discussion internally."
If you're not in a first world country. Pirate all your games just in case.
Actually that's true for first world countries too. Never know when ea will fuck you.
EA GAMES - we fuckup everything
A sad reminder of how the first sale doctrine is now a long forgotten memory.
Are users even getting a refund?
You probably weren't alive during the Cuban revolution, but the reason the US enacted an embargo against Cuba was not for ideological reasons, but for economic reasons. The revolution seized *billions* of US capital and have claimed it as state property ever since. As proof the embargo is not ideological, reference US relations with Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam, Qatar, and any number of *highly* oppressive regimes.
The US doesn't care about the human condition -- it cares about money, and that's why the embargo is being lifted.
EA took these people's money. When they did that EA violated the US embargo. So that ship has sailed. EA broke US sanctions.
Now EA has removed access to the games people in these countries bought and won't refund them. That doesn't undo EA's sanction breaking, it just heaps upon it the act of fleecing the customers from these countries who paid money for the games in good faith. EA is punishing innocent people for an illegal act by EA.
EA needs to refund these people's money and talk to the US government about what fines EA will have to pay for THEIR misdeeds.
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
The embargo remains in place, only congress can end it and the republican party at least has no intention of doing so. Obama has stretched the rules about as much as presidential discretion allows.
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