CEO Tim Sweeney of Epic Games’ has #publicly #apologized to a fan, originally blocked from entering the upcoming #Paragon beta test due to sharing the same name as several individuals listed as terrorists by the United States government.
Dr. Khan visited the Paragon website on the weekend to submitted his registration to enter the beta test for the MOBA. The name was immediately flagged by the Specially Designated Nationals List maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“As part of its enforcement efforts,” the Treasury states on its website, “OFAC publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific.”
https://twitter.com/Muzzakh/status/686295297971089408
“When I went to the website to register for an account, I hit submit and that’s when I faced the red text. I was shocked,” Dr. Khan tells Gamasutra via email. “Initially, I thought I had been hacked. I literally stopped everything and told myself verbally out loud, ‘What the heck?’ I felt dehumanized and discriminated against. Frankly, it hurt.”
Tim Sweeney gave an apology on Twitter and outlined this issue being due to an “overly broad filter related to US trade restrictions.”
@imraansiddiqi @Muzzakh Sorry, this isn't intended. We're working to fix ASAP. Cause: Overly broad filter related to US trade restrictions.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 10, 2016
