Error 810003c1: Windows Live Messenger blocked in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea

On Thursday, LiveSide noticed that Microsoft decided to disable access to Windows Live Messenger for users in Cuba, Syria, Iran, Sudan and North Korea. Users from these five countries embargoed by the U.S. will be presented with a dry error message: " Error 810003c1: We were unable to sign you in to the .NET Messenger Service". It is yet unclear whether this startling move was imposed or voluntarily.

That's just plain weird.