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EA bans out of nowhere an entire country from Origin, without offering refunds or compensations

MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
in General Gaming

It appears that EA has just banned an entire country from Origin. According to reports, PC gamers located in Myanmar cannot access their games or login to their accounts, and cannot use EA’s Origin client at all.

PC gamers in Myanmar are welcomed with an “Access Denied” message and it’s been reported that Origin is no longer available in Myanmar. However, all those gamers that have already bought their have not been refunded in any way. Instead, EA simply terminated its Origin services in that country, without giving a damn about those affected by it.

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/ea-bans-out-of-nowhere-an-entire-country-from-origin-without-offering-refunds-or-compensations/

Comments

  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 7,910
    That's harsh.

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    Well, they are allowed to do that legally, if you read all 82-some-odd pages of the EULA. As much as it sucks. They can remove your access to your account at any time, for pretty much any reason, and you aren't entitled to any sort of refund or compensation.

    The same thing could happen to Steam, or Apple Store, or Windows Store, or Console digital storefronts, or anyplace where you are buying a digital license and not a physical product.
  • Xenx656Xenx656 Member UncommonPosts: 55
    edited October 2016
    If any of them have bought something recently make sure to do a chargeback

    Edit: after reading around online it looks to be a error from what i can see maybe
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,888
    edited October 2016
    Ridelynn said:
    Well, they are allowed to do that legally, if you read all 82-some-odd pages of the EULA. As much as it sucks. They can remove your access to your account at any time, for pretty much any reason, and you aren't entitled to any sort of refund or compensation.

    The same thing could happen to Steam, or Apple Store, or Windows Store, or Console digital storefronts, or anyplace where you are buying a digital license and not a physical product.
    Buying physical products is not that much different. With games that require Steam/Origin/Uplay/etc. connection you're risking you might end up with just an expensive frisbee if they decide to stop service.

    Often pirating is the only way to make sure you can keep playing the game no matter what happens.
     
  • SlyLoKSlyLoK Member RarePosts: 2,698
    I think if it happened in a more major location something would be done about it. If Origin or Steam were to shut down say in EU or US there would be lawsuits and that EULA would never stand in a court.
  • MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
    edited October 2016
    Have to wait and see if this is just temporary.  :o
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000

    Recent PCGames article.


    EA_Tom, community manager on EA's AnswersHQ support forum, explained to one user that the denial of service was now in effect for several countries the US has placed trade sanctions on.

    "In compliance with US embargoes and sanctions laws, Origin is not available in Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine (Crimea region)," Tom wrote on September 15.

    It's unclear why EA has begun complying with trade sanction law now, with players from these regions having already purchased and played through the Origin service for years by this point.

    In the current Origin terms of service, Section 14 pertains to exports and states: "You agree to abide by U.S. and other applicable export control laws and agree not to transfer the Application to a foreign national, or national destination, which is prohibited by such laws, without first obtaining, and then complying with, any requisite government authorization." It is unclear at which point this clause was added to the terms.

    Despite the embargoes now being lifted for more than three weeks, EA has yet to reinstate access to Origin for players in Myanmar. We have reached out to EA for comment on the circumstances of the nationwide ban and whether they plan to restore access to the country or provide refunds to those affected.

    http://www.pcgamesn.com/battlefield-1/ea-origin-myanmar-trade-sanctions

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • MoiraeMoirae Member RarePosts: 3,318
    edited October 2016
    *shrugs* Any of these companies can do this. What do you think it means when you have digital content downloads? You basically give them unlimited access to your account and they can do what they want. Read the EULA's. You no longer own the games you buy, even the physical copies. It's horrible, yep but it's not the first time it's happened, and WE let it happen. 
  • freaksoldier99freaksoldier99 Member UncommonPosts: 39
    Recore said:

    It appears that EA has just banned an entire country from Origin. According to reports, PC gamers located in Myanmar cannot access their games or login to their accounts, and cannot use EA’s Origin client at all.

    PC gamers in Myanmar are welcomed with an “Access Denied” message and it’s been reported that Origin is no longer available in Myanmar. However, all those gamers that have already bought their have not been refunded in any way. Instead, EA simply terminated its Origin services in that country, without giving a damn about those affected by it.

    http://www.dsogaming.com/news/ea-bans-out-of-nowhere-an-entire-country-from-origin-without-offering-refunds-or-compensations/


    good hate hackers 


  • CopperfieldCopperfield Member RarePosts: 654
    nice free marketing stunt from EA.. getting free headlines from gaming websites without spending money

    within 2/3 days EA will twitter : technical error sorry for inconvience.
  • MoiraeMoirae Member RarePosts: 3,318
    Torval said:
    Moirae said:
    *shrugs* Any of these companies can do this. What do you think it means when you have digital content downloads? You basically give them unlimited access to your account and they can do what they want. Read the EULA's. You no longer own the games you buy, even the physical copies. It's horrible, yep but it's not the first time it's happened, and WE let it happen. 
    We rarely, if ever, owned the software, windows versions, oracle db, etc. Those EULAs were in place back in the 80s. We actually have more digital rights now than ever before. We have more DRM free alternatives than ever. It can be a lot better, but it's not the worst it's been.

    The problem unique to online software is that users have no recourse once the service stops. One step I would like to see is devs/pubs provide personal/LAN server packages for online games if they take the service offline.

    Buy DRM free options and those EULAs are just semantics.
    If I remember, STEAM did the same thing once. And when we had physical copies, we could do what we liked even if the companies complained. We can't now. 
  • frostymugfrostymug Member RarePosts: 645
    edited October 2016
    nice free marketing stunt from EA.. getting free headlines from gaming websites without spending money

    within 2/3 days EA will twitter : technical error sorry for inconvience.
    Do you think they are doing it to try to get their name out there as such a small indie or just to garner goodwill from the masses who have already heard of them?
  • filmoretfilmoret Member EpicPosts: 4,906
    edited November 2016
    Sorry but if your country is being ran by a terrorist and causing problems in the world then you don't get to play EA games.  Its smart to block internet access to countries like this sometimes.  But anyways the problem was resolved and now EA is working to restore access.

    But the problem was the Burma government was ran by the military and it caused major problems with their people.  So there was a trade ban on the country untill the military decided to step down and allow the citizens to rule the country.  Now they have allowed this to happen the ban has lifted and democracy is starting to rule.
    Are you onto something or just on something?
  • MaxBaconMaxBacon Member LegendaryPosts: 7,766
    I wonder if US plays embargos and more serious actions against Russia.

    Will EA ban Russia? :awesome:
    Or Blizzard?

    Darn imagine if by law American companies had to do so. lol
  • sui2ksui2k Member UncommonPosts: 30
    MaxBacon said:
    I wonder if US plays embargos and more serious actions against Russia.

    Will EA ban Russia? :awesome:
    Or Blizzard?

    Darn imagine if by law American companies had to do so. lol
    The Headlines:

    percentage of CS:GO players dropped by 90% 
  • MaxBaconMaxBacon Member LegendaryPosts: 7,766
    sui2k said:
    MaxBacon said:
    I wonder if US plays embargos and more serious actions against Russia.

    Will EA ban Russia? :awesome:
    Or Blizzard?

    Darn imagine if by law American companies had to do so. lol
    The Headlines:

    percentage of CS:GO players dropped by 90% 
    Indeed. The scary part is that I see it as very possible the way the political games are played, to something like this happen.

    If you can't conquer their hearts... conquer their games. :3
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