Yangon Days: Offline

Last week my ownership of the URL maximobo.com expired. I'd been warned about it enough via e mail, but there wasn't much I could do from Myanmar. I've had people complain before that google will refuse payments from Myanmar because of sanctions (whereas Amazon will not), and I saw an article that says the same applies to the iStore in Syria (another country under sanctions).

At the checkout, but refused serive

It was a major frustration to add to the list of things that one takes for granted until you live in Myanmar. But it was neither life nor freedom threatening, and the only thing that was really affected were my page visits. The worst was that when maximobo.com became an ad page, it was not selling bespoke cycling equipment or iconic modern literature, but the usual generic celebrity sites and one link that only mentioned: "girls, girls, girls". I didn't click to find out.