Now that I think about it, why didn't Microsoft just do this in the first place? XBox Live has been a well-established brand for almost a decade now. It's just as well known as Steam. Why did MS try to launch a totally different brand with a totally different API platform?

Oh, I see you found Youtube and wanted to watch a funny ad. Unfortunately you can't view this Sony ad because it contains music from Sony!

I do not make this up!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OfferVoidInNebraska
(at the bottom at The Internet)

I think it is just an act, "oh we are sooo sorry what our grandfathers did to all of you...", crocodile tears. In reality they are building an atomic bomb and a fleet of space ships in their secret moon base.

If I look from a standpoint of economy and respect for copyright, then
a) omnicide is the solution to get everything into the public domain in less than 71 years. Sadly, nobody will be able to enjoy it anymore...
b) there is no reason to limit digital distribution to certain countries
c) Youtube, GFWL etc. do not want people to enjoy cultural goods in certain nations, and therefore violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 19, 27 and 28.
For example: (my emphasis: it does not say "people of certain nations have no right to receive information and ideas because they belong to a nation that other people deem unworthy")

If I don't have respect for copyright, on the other hand, I will restrict certain countries so they are forced to pirate it.

...

Were you recently kicked in the head or something? Seriously, your posts over the past week...pretty special.

Heh, this has nothing to do with the shit I wrote past week.

I just think people should not be left out of things because of their religion.

Wat. Have you read this thread at all? This has nothing to do with religion or antisemitism. More than half the world is excluded from GFWL.

:facepalm:

now you're confusing nationality, ethnicity and religion, all in the same thread!

i think your posts made more sense when you were drunk...

Any digital service hosted by Microsoft is limited by the US laws regarding exportations, too. There are still a lot of countries under varying US restrictions like Iran, Cuba, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar, Liberia, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Balkans, Cote D'Ivoire, China, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, Egypt, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Lebanon, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Belarus, Cyprus, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Vietnam, Haiti, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of the Congo... (straight from the US Export Controls page)

For some, it's only restrictions on military material, but technological stuff tends to be frowned upon too (if I remember well, ammunition exportation laws covered encryption too...).

Of course, it isn't a good excuse for the awful overpriced service provided anywhere but the USA.

...it has nothing to do with religion.

GFWL isn't available in many Middle Eastern countries and African countries, so what about Islam, Baha'i, Christianity, Animism and Zoroastrianism, amongst other religions ?

Congratulations on your increasingly tendentious posts.

Well, Greenland is technically part of Denmark, and GFWL is supported in Denmark.

Still it's nice of them to think of those poor Greenlandians who couldn't live without that gem.

I like to think of all those Greenlanders in tiny huts playing PC games. Yes, I know they don't live in huts, but whatever.