No iPads for Iranian-AMERICANS

So... are you from Iran? Yeah, you can't get an iPad.
This also includes people from Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Sudan, regardless if you're in the States on a Visa or an American citizen.



Well the Apply Policy states that,

PROHIBITED DESTINATIONSThe U.S. holds complete embargoes against Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and SyriaThe exportation, reexportation, sale or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a U.S. person wherever located, of any Apple goods, software, technology (including technical data), or services to any of these countries is strictly prohibited without prior authorization by the U.S. Government. This prohibition also applies to any Apple owned subsidiary or any subsidiary employee worldwide.

Funny thing is, the App Store's official Twitter tweeted this ten minutes ago:

You can look up global human rights with the NYTIMES App for the iPad but oh oh oh no no wait ... you can't, because you're Iranian.

So, does this mean that all Apple stores in the U.S. are doing this? Prior to buying an Apple product, are you obligated to go through this?:

"Where are you from?"
"I'm Korean"
"North or South?"
"South"
"Oh ok then I can cash you out over here"

OR

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Sudan"

"I'm sorry, our countries have bad relations, I can't sell you this product"

Well this is what happened to 19 year-old Sahar Sabet in Fulton, Georgia when a rep overheard her speaking in Farsi. She was refused the sale of an iPad because of bad relations between Iran and the U.S. She actually went to two different stores, and was refused the sale. Sabet is actually an owner of a Macbook and an iPhone, but now, she can't seem to get past the "security clearance" at the Apple stores.

Sabet is an American citizen and a student at the University of Georgia. So, she can reap the privilege of getting an education while pouring her Iranian money to the institution, she just can't give Apple any money for the exchange of their products. 

Right now, it is unclear whether the State Department is enforcing this upon Apple, or if Apple has taken it in their own hands to enforce the policy itself. However, it seems that this policy is quite inconsistent, as Sabet has Apple products in possession and had them prior to her attempted iPad purchase. 

This sounds all to familiar, why? Because it is racial profiling. We've seen this before and will continue to see it as companies, institutions and States continue to try and find loopholes in segregating citizens and maintaining the power dynamics that exist globally. 

What is interesting is that identity-wise, Americans often label their background as Asian-AMERICAN, African-AMERICAN and so on. Yet, when it comes to purchasing an Apple product, the AMERICAN is eliminated from the label, and an association with "the enemy" is assumed. 

A representative from Apple has stated that it is illegal to travel with electronic devices to Iran without the Government's permission, but have not heard about Apple enforcing that through the sales at their stores. But how does this work in other countries? What about when Apple products are in Canada? Are Apple stores asking customers where they are from? Are they getting stores that sell Apple products such as Universities and Best Buy to "screen" their customers are well?

One student interviewed said, "If you're trying to buy an Apple product, I wouldn't say anything about Iran". The point however, is NOT that you shouldn't mention Iran, but whether you mention it or not, you should have the right to purchase. 

Refusing a sale to a customer based on their social marker is profiling and reiterates this idea of belongingness... Who belongs where?

This is an issue of citizenship, politics, commerce and racial profiling all together.

The issue here is not that it happened to people like Sabet, and now has all of a sudden come to light. The issue is that this policy was written, endorsed and enforced in the first place. The manager interviewed by reporters says he's just following company policy. But... would you want to work for a place that enforce those kind of policies? What if you're an Iranian-American working for Apple? Or do they not get hired?
And please... there are better jobs than working for Apple, right?

Who wrote this crap?

Apple seems to be having issues outside of the U.S. as well. They recently settled on a 60 million dollar lawsuit over the rights to the name "iPad" to China.

This news came to me hours before I finished packing as I'm planning on spending the next 5 days in Atlanta, Georgia. Perimeter Mall is one place I might visit ... Maybe get my best friend to claim she's Iranian, and when they refuse to sell us an iPad, we'll just have to raise hell in the store. I'll let you know how it goes.