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What was the logic behind Sony banning the purchase of games?, was Sony compelled by U.S law?. Was this done as a way to try and try to win brownie points and f

What was the logic behind Sony banning the purchase of games?, was Sony compelled by U.S law?. Was this done as a way to try and try to win brownie points and free pr from those reporting on it?. I can understand valve enforcing the discounted price difference among countries but I don't like the idea of not being able to purchase a game at full price and play it because a company wants to virtue signal. All valve has is its reputation, bad move for them to shake people's confidence in their game collection.

bilekas 2y ago
It sure wasn’t to make a drama so occams razor here, it’s most likely to distributor rights
Kwpolska 2y ago
The game requires a PlayStation Network account, and those cannot be created in the banned countries. The controversy was caused by the fact that the PSN requirement and country bans weren't enforced on launch, so people bought a game that then stopped being available to them.
- armada651 2y ago
  > The controversy was caused by the fact that the PSN requirement and country bans weren't enforced on launch, so people bought a game that then stopped being available to them. From the article it doesn't sound like those people are getting banned though. It's specifically the people who use a VPN to purchase the game in another region. So it's not the people just trying to play their game that they bought on launch, it's the people trying to get around region restrictions put in place on the Steam store after the PSN requirement was added.
- codetrotter 2y ago
  But why is PSN not in those countries
  - Propelloni 2y ago
    It is tangentially discussed further down. Despite appearances the internet is a fragmented space with different laws and regulations depending on the location of the user. The service provider has to account for this. And while many large cooperations just steamroll the smallest and disorganized entities (e.g. Liberia), this does not usually work with better organized ones (e.g. Nigeria). This can make it too onerous to run a given service in a given jurisdiction with a low ROI. For example, do business in Argentina, try to lawfully get your money out, and see how far you get.
  - tiberious726 2y ago
    https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-inf...
    - Kwpolska 2y ago
      The list of countries not allowed to buy the game [0] is longer than the US sanctions list. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1csgabv/map_of_all_states_that_cant_purchase_helldivers_2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1csgabv/map_of_...
tomnipotent 2y ago
I'm guessing the PSN account requirements is to simplify customer support and moderation, so that all Sony PC games can be managed by the same teams and tools currently used for the PlayStation. This sounds like a reasonable decision all things considered. As for why PSN is not available in all countries, I imagine that's a more complicated situation involving legal and regulatory considerations.

bilekas 2y ago

It sure wasn’t to make a drama so occams razor here, it’s most likely to distributor rights

Kwpolska 2y ago

The game requires a PlayStation Network account, and those cannot be created in the banned countries. The controversy was caused by the fact that the PSN requirement and country bans weren't enforced on launch, so people bought a game that then stopped being available to them.

armada651 2y ago
> The controversy was caused by the fact that the PSN requirement and country bans weren't enforced on launch, so people bought a game that then stopped being available to them. From the article it doesn't sound like those people are getting banned though. It's specifically the people who use a VPN to purchase the game in another region. So it's not the people just trying to play their game that they bought on launch, it's the people trying to get around region restrictions put in place on the Steam store after the PSN requirement was added.
codetrotter 2y ago
But why is PSN not in those countries
- Propelloni 2y ago
  It is tangentially discussed further down. Despite appearances the internet is a fragmented space with different laws and regulations depending on the location of the user. The service provider has to account for this. And while many large cooperations just steamroll the smallest and disorganized entities (e.g. Liberia), this does not usually work with better organized ones (e.g. Nigeria). This can make it too onerous to run a given service in a given jurisdiction with a low ROI. For example, do business in Argentina, try to lawfully get your money out, and see how far you get.
- tiberious726 2y ago
  https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-inf...
  - Kwpolska 2y ago
    The list of countries not allowed to buy the game [0] is longer than the US sanctions list. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1csgabv/map_of_all_states_that_cant_purchase_helldivers_2/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1csgabv/map_of_...

tomnipotent 2y ago

I'm guessing the PSN account requirements is to simplify customer support and moderation, so that all Sony PC games can be managed by the same teams and tools currently used for the PlayStation. This sounds like a reasonable decision all things considered. As for why PSN is not available in all countries, I imagine that's a more complicated situation involving legal and regulatory considerations.