What does 'Embargo' mean for IT professionals? - Part I

     I am, like any other Windows based developer, extensively use services and software provided by the U.S. companies. But recently I started to see a strange message stating that the country where I live (Belarus now) is sanctioned by the United States and my IP addresses are blocked. So, we can't use their services any longer. Most probably, and I suspect that such decision was made based on the Russia-Ukraine war. Because earlier this year I could open any page on the web site without any issue. But how we, developers, are related to the war or even politician games? 

For example, I see the following text on the Pluralsight.com web site:

Because your IP address or billing address is associated with a country that is sanctioned by the United States, by U.S. law we are required to block your access to Pluralsight.com. If you believe you are receiving  this message in error, please contact ...@pluralsight.com


The exact picture is shown on the screenshot:



I even tried to run an offline player which is still in Beta. 



But if you enter the credentials you will see nothing. Here is how 'Embargo' looks like!

There are a lot of ways to avoid such restrictions. Below I will list some of them, the easiest are:
 
 
 

1. Use the mobile applications instead of web sites. 


For example, Pluralsight provides mobile applications. You can find them in Windows and Apple Stores. Moreover, they allow to download some courses for online viewing at any convenient time.
 
 
 

2. The Opera web browser. 


It allows you to enable the Turbo mode when your traffic is redirected through EU servers and thus your real IP will be hidden. 


 Frankly speaking, that is the most popular mobile browser in Belarus for obvious reasons :)
 
 

3. The Tor project. 


However, it requires some adjustments.


It is a shame to a well-known companies to support politician games and make developer lives harder. In the era of internet and globalization we need to separate ourselves from what our governments do. In most cases it doesn't reflect our choice.
 

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