Gamers at Myanmar are learning about DRM the hard way as EA banned the whole country from playing games bought through its Origin online store.
EA started blocking access to Origin in Myanmar sometime in September, preventing gamers living there from accessing the store or playing its games. The ban affects all attempts to access the service, even for gamers purchased outside of the country and accounts registered from other countries. Myanmar residents quickly learned that the only way left to access their games is through VPN (virtual private network which is not really an option for online multiplayer.
EA initially explained that the block was enacted in order to comply with US laws that ban doing business in certain countries. Interestingly enough, the block was started around the same time president Obama announced that USA would lift trade sanctions on Myanmar. Moreover, the sanctions were indeed lifted on October 7th but EA is yet restore service to affected gamers in the country.
EA issued the following statement: "We are working to restore access to Origin for our players in Myanmar. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we'll share updates on timing as soon as possible."
This yet another reminder why it is not wise to entrust your game library to online DRM which leaves you at the mercy of internet connection and the whims of corporate overlords. Steam tries to make things a little bit better by allowing you to play your games for a couple of months in offline mode, but stores such as GOG take it even higher by offering completely DRM-free games.
