Embargoed Azeroth
by Elizabeth Harper 
May 3rd 2006 at 2:00PM
Until I saw this article,
I hadn't realized that any country with which the US had a trade embargo was prohibited from adventuring throughout
Azeroth according to World of Warcraft's terms of service. Even formerly embargoed countries, such as Iraq and
Iran, remain specifically banned from playing WoW. This doesn't mean that there are no players in embargoed
countries - only that they may be permanently banned whenever Blizzard takes the time to enforce these rules.
It's an interesting look at the barricades between some players and the virtual world most of us take for granted.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BaboonNL May 3rd 2006 6:09PM
Since when does the US own the internet?
elizabeth May 3rd 2006 6:13PM
It doesn't, but Blizzard does own World of Warcraft, and they have written their terms of service (which you must agree to before you're allowed to play) in a way that corrisponds with American political policy.
Joe Eversole May 3rd 2006 6:53PM
It's not even so much as following a political policy as much as it is for following THE LAW. US companies are forbidden by law from doing business with companies the US Department of Commerce says they can't do business with. This includes Cuba, North Korea, and others.
It's not the US trying to own the Internet. It's a US-based business following US laws. Do you know of many companies that voluntarily choose not to do business with millions of people? I sure don't.
forzaq8 May 3rd 2006 10:27PM
so could blizzar europe deal with them ?
Max May 4th 2006 3:27AM
In answer to BaboonNL and elizabeth, The US doesn't own the internet but can control it, which is why allot of countries or regions (continents) are talking about starting their own internet. The US was asked to share control at the start of the year but refused when a vote of about 82-1 went against them, the 1 being the US.
So what will happen if there is different internet regions, Were will WoW be ?
boneyard May 4th 2006 4:30AM
as if blizzard would care enough about it. they let enough europeans play on the american server when that wasn't officially allowed either.
Lanza May 4th 2006 9:18AM
Way to not even begin to address the issue at hand, Venmax. If you think he's an idiot, making yourself look like an even bigger idiot won't help your cause.
But back to the subject: From what I understand about the way things work on this here internet, it wouldn't be hard at all for someone in, say, Iran or North Korea to use some sort of proxy server to make their IP say that they're in Kentucky or Vancouver. Since Blizzard doesn't have the time, interest, or ability to run CIA-caliber background checks on every subscriber, the only way that these folks would be discovered would be if they outed themselves.
That gnome warlock might be Osama! Run!!!
Mat May 4th 2006 12:10PM
I'm not going to try and say that the US trade embargoes are always fair, but what I am going to say is that you Venmax, are a fucking idiot.
How do you even know BaboonNL is from the US? And he/she DOES pose a valid question even if it's not as verbose as it could be. The Internet has become a global network and anyone with any interest in it's continued existance should recognize the need for it to not be solely controlled by one country. Think about the fact too, that perhaps if more countries were involved in it's governing, issues like SPAM might not be such a HUGE problem. In reality though, I have little faith that the US would be willing to work very much with other countries on it considering our current role in the UN isn't very positive and is argueably more important than the Internet.
It's people like you that make moderates like me hate the conservative and the liberal. What I wouldn't give for more rationally thinkers...
And good job on your self censorship there, not having the 'u' really helped us all out.
elizabeth May 4th 2006 7:01PM
If we could keep discussion clean and on-topic, that would be great, folks. This topic does enter the realm of politics, but that's no reason to start insulting one another.
Mat May 8th 2006 1:44PM
Sorry Elizabeth, I let myself get a little too worked up there :)