![Homs Syria by Bo yaser (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADestruction_in_Homs_(2).jpg [cropped and processed]](http://www.exportlawblog.com/images/Homs%20Syria.jpg "Homs Syria by Bo yaser (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADestruction_in_Homs_(2).jpg [cropped and processed]")
According to this article, the Securities and Exchange Commission is sending out inquiries to certain publicly traded technology companies to ask them whether they are involved in any illegal exports to Syria. Among the subjects of concern by the SEC is a company named Glu Mobile, the perpetrator of a mobile phone game called, and I’m not kidding here, “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.” This game allows you to “create your own star and customize your look with hundreds of style options … [and] join Kim Kardashian on a red carpet adventure.” Apparently, civilization as we know it will crumble into dust if people in Syria can play this game on their phones. (Frankly, we’d probably be better off if this game could ONLY be played in Syria, but that’s another issue.)
Glu pointed out to the geniuses at the SEC, who apparently can’t figure out how mobile phones work, that mobile games are sold through the iTunes, Amazon and Android stores and that these stores don’t permit sales to Syria. One can only imagine that the folks at the SEC must have been under the impression that mobile games were distributed on floppy disks sent through the mails.
Photo Credit: By Bo yaser (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons [cropped and processed].
