Microsoft blocks Live Messenger access

Users in five countries will be without access due to US sanctions.

Microsoft has said it is shutting off access to its Windows Live Messenger instant messaging service for users living in countries embargoed by the United States, according to reports.

The countries affected by the ban are Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea, said a ZDnet.com report.

When trying to log in they will be met with an error message: “810003c1: We are unable to sign you into the .NET Messenger Service.

Reason: Microsoft has discontinued providing Instant Messenger services in certain countries subject to United States sanctions.

Details of these sanctions are available from the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control.”

According to ZDNet, a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed the move, although as many of the sanctions imposed by the US date back nearly ten years, it is currently uncertain why Microsoft has decided to follow them now by banning the service.

Last month, there was widespread anger among the user community when Microsoft’s Windows Live and Hotmail services suffered an outage which meant that when users tried to log-in, they were told they didn’t have an inbox.

The problem occurred because of “a network issue that we encountered while doing routine maintenance”, according to Microsoft. However, the news led to a flood of complaints from vnunet.com readers who had been unable to access their emails.

Many of them argued that the problem resolution service provided by Microsoft was substandard, with some saying it took much longer than the alleged two hours the outage occurred before they were back up and running.

Microsoft is not alone in feeling the wrath of its customers after problems with its webmail and IM services. Google’s Gmail service was branded GFail by many after a major outage in February.