Oct
31
I went to check: it turns out Yahoo’s country list doesn’t have Iran in it anymore. Here’s a screenshot:
And the Iranians are understandably not happy: Letter to Yahoo: "Yahoo mail has recently removed "Iran" from the list of world countries in its signup page! We, the nation of Iran, assume it contrary to professional ethics to deny a nation and violate fundamental human rights for any reason, including the so-called political tensions between states and governments."
So what internal or external politics caused this to happen? Are other US-based companies doing this? I don’t think it’s right, and I would be *very* offended if this happened to my country.
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:23 am
As a US company, Yahoo has to comply with the directives compiled by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control:
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/
http://treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/iran/iran.pdf
With a few exceptions (e.g., rugs), it’s prohibited for individuals or companies to do business with Iran. Similar prohibitions also exist for Cuba and North Korea, which you will notice are also not on Yahoo’s list. I’m almost positive this has nothing to do with Yahoo wanting to snub the people of Iran - but with their need to comply with US law.
On some of the absurd applications of the law:
http://tinyurl.com/2z73kn
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:00 am
oops - North Korea is on Yahoo’s list, but Cuba isn’t
…. I guess the sanctions aren’t as tight for the DPRK