Microsoft Not Only Firm Banning IM Access to US Enemy Nations

Besides Microsoft, Google and possibly AOL have also cut access to their instant messaging services to citizens of countries deemed hostile to the United States. But it’s unclear how effective those measures will be at preventing access. Microsoft confirmed late last week that it had stopped offering its Windows Live Messenger service to users in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea. All five countries are subject to trade embargoes overseen by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a division of the Department of the Treasury