GitHub blocked developers in Iran, Syria and Crimea due to US sanctions
Coders in those countries can still access public repositories.
Software development platform GitHub is essential to developers across the globe. Unfortunately for users in Iran, Syria and Crimea, access is getting squeezed, thanks to US trade law.
GitHub CEO Nat Friedman tweeted Saturday that there will be restrictions on private repositories and paid accounts for users in Iran, Syria and Crimea. But, the company said, they'll still have access to the platform's public repositories services. Friedman did suggest users affected by the sanctions could make their repositories public as a way to bypass the restrictions.
President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Syria and Crimea during his terms in office. President Donald Trump signed off on new trade sanctions against Iran at the end of June.
Last year, Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion in stock. Friedman said his company would still work independently, even though it's owned by the Windows maker.