I am writing this both as a letter of complaint but also a clarification for Sony. Being a world renound company, it is only fair that they be informed of their mistakes.
A couple of days ago my 7 year old son (quite an avid gamer) decided that he would like to transfer his Minecraft experience to our new Playstation 4 console. Having been good at school, like any good parent, I decided I would purchase an electronic version of the game for him. Unfortunately, coming from an economically unstable, institutionally corrupt country with the worst human development index on the European continent - Macedonia (known to a few as FYROM), it was not possible for me to sreate a PSN account. Like its other competing consoles, Sony (i thought) had opted to leave out all the coutries which are a testament to governmental and juditional failure like mine!
A simple inquery in a Sony forum yielded the following response: "The reason for your country not having a PSN store is because of your government and legal regulations!" . Fair enough, its true that we suck in that aspect and a lot more!
So, without futher adue, not being able to find Macedonia on the list, I proceeded to the next best thing. Choosing the Netherlands as my country since I have my brother living there with a permanent address. It was during the scrolling to the Netherlands that I found the need to write this letter! Namely, I came accross coutries like: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
This for me was very surprising. It got me thinking whether Sony has done their research on country regulations properly or not. I could not come to ANY logical reason as to why this is so. Hence this letter.
Dear Sony,
I am a Macedonian disgruntled owner of a brand new Sony Playstation 4. Although I completely agree with your policy of encouraging development of corrupt countries by barring them from the PSN Store, I cannot for the life of me understand your criteria for determining which countries qualify and which not for PSN Store.
Namely, being in Macedonia (territorially in Europe), I was informed (via Sony PSN forums) that "It is not in fact Sony's fault that Macodnonia doesn't have a PSN capability, but rather my coutries government and legal regulations are not in accordance to Sony policy!"
Well, I would like to clarify some facts for you! Namely, although we do have quite a bit to go to reach the standerd of say the Netherlands, AND the country is run by a family of totalitarian sociopaths, here is a list of laws that we DONT apply to our citizens:
What prompted this letter?
A couple of days ago my 7 year old son (quite an avid gamer) decided that he would like to transfer his Minecraft experience to our new Playstation 4 console. Having been good at school, like any good parent, I decided I would purchase an electronic version of the game for him. Unfortunately, coming from an economically unstable, institutionally corrupt country with the worst human development index on the European continent - Macedonia (known to a few as FYROM), it was not possible for me to sreate a PSN account. Like its other competing consoles, Sony (i thought) had opted to leave out all the coutries which are a testament to governmental and juditional failure like mine!
A simple inquery in a Sony forum yielded the following response: "The reason for your country not having a PSN store is because of your government and legal regulations!" . Fair enough, its true that we suck in that aspect and a lot more!
So, without futher adue, not being able to find Macedonia on the list, I proceeded to the next best thing. Choosing the Netherlands as my country since I have my brother living there with a permanent address. It was during the scrolling to the Netherlands that I found the need to write this letter! Namely, I came accross coutries like: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
This for me was very surprising. It got me thinking whether Sony has done their research on country regulations properly or not. I could not come to ANY logical reason as to why this is so. Hence this letter.
The actual letter/email
Dear Sony,
I am a Macedonian disgruntled owner of a brand new Sony Playstation 4. Although I completely agree with your policy of encouraging development of corrupt countries by barring them from the PSN Store, I cannot for the life of me understand your criteria for determining which countries qualify and which not for PSN Store.
Namely, being in Macedonia (territorially in Europe), I was informed (via Sony PSN forums) that "It is not in fact Sony's fault that Macodnonia doesn't have a PSN capability, but rather my coutries government and legal regulations are not in accordance to Sony policy!"
Well, I would like to clarify some facts for you! Namely, although we do have quite a bit to go to reach the standerd of say the Netherlands, AND the country is run by a family of totalitarian sociopaths, here is a list of laws that we DONT apply to our citizens:
- Women which have been victims of rape will NOT receive 90 lashes in public for "being alone with a man who is not a relative" - As they do in Saudi Arabia, which has access to the PSN store (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatif_rape_case)
- We DO NOT flog our citizens for alcohol consumption or having "illicit" sex without authorization or for sharing private space with the opposite sex! - As they do in Qatar, which has access to the PSN store (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar#Capital_punishment)
- We have NO LAWS which could land you in jail (or worse) for indecent clothing!!!! - As they do in United Arab Emirates, which has access to the PSN store (http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/uae-laws-you-must-know-to-stay-out-of-trouble-2012-02-28-1.445519)
- We do not (can not) sustain 7% of the US economy with laundered cash - As does UAE and Qatar.
In fact besides the political/government corruptions (also present in the nations mentioned above), I can safely say that our basic human rights (UNLIKE in the above mentioned nations) are quite safe and protected constitutionally.
I wasn't sure that you guys at Sony are aware of this so I decided to give you some insight to this freely available information!
Finally, I would like to add one more thing Since I assume, being a world class company you also conform by world class ethics, being a Sony customer, and as such, being always right (as a customer), I would like to suggest that having official Sony stores in Macedonia, it is also fitting that you make available the Sony PSN store as well.
Also I would appretiate any feedback on this.
Best regards,
Taner Selim
A Sony customer
