Transformer & Panda ST-Themes ThemeForest account on Envato has been Suspended :(

[alwayspaws]

Please read this important information. Our friend, Jonny, may need our support:

http://www.sunnytoo.com/forums/topic/our-themeforest-account-has-been-disabled

FYI @mdekker @lesley @vzex

[alwayspaws]

Envato has deactivated the developer’s account. Hopefully they will see it is an honest mistake by an upstanding member of its and our communities.

https://help.market.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/206208390-What-Countries-Can-I-Not-Use-Envato-From-

[alwayspaws]

More info from Jonny - sunnytoo- Panda and Transformer theme developer:

Jonny wrote:

Yes, we hope they could give me a chance. It’s now five years since we released our first theme "Transformer", we always carefully follow author rules, we never expected this would happen.

Post Link: http://www.sunnytoo.com/forums/topic/our-themeforest-account-has-been-disabled/#post-8650

[lesley]

Well that sucks.

[alwayspaws]

@lesley It sure does.

Posted 11-16-17 on FB Envato and tweeted part of this with screenshot of FB post

You suspended ST-THEMES Transformer and Panda #themes Website developer account. He’s on your site FIVE YEARS. Please reconsider your decision. It was an honest oversight by a very dedicated member of your site who has been working extremely hard with multiple themes and superior tech support. I stand by him.

and:

[DaoKakao]

They wants to be more saint than Pope. Such a hypocritical activity!

[alwayspaws]

They should be more reasonable. It's their income, too!

So sorry for huge images but that's how they post when I'm on my cell phone.

[dynambee]

I definitely feel bad for him. This type of thing is one of the risks we all face when we trade on top of someone else's platform. They have the ability to pull the plug at any time and for any reason. :(

[Troy.Roberts]

Well i made a ticket on their helpdesk asking them to reconsider. Hopefully it helps.

[alwayspaws]

@dynambee We all sympathize with him. Jonny works very hard at everything, is very meticulous and is a longstanding (five years!) author at Envato.

Thanks @Troy-Roberts. I created a ticket just now. The latest I heard from Envato on FB was 10 hours ago:

[dynambee]

I do see Envato's side of this issue as well.

The US government is insanely strict about no dealings with certain countries. It's a relatively short list of countries but anyone found to be dealing with those countries faces stiff penalties. If Envato didn't remove sellers found to be transacting with those countries then Envato themselves would be at risk of no longer being able to stay in business. (Envato seems to be based in Australia but if they find themselves no longer able to accept PayPal or any credit cards they wouldn't have much of a business left.)

Potentially losing one developer who is very friendly to our community (and seems to make great products) sucks. Losing the entire Envato platform would suck much more.

[marci123]

@dynambee this is not a deal about weapons or other suspect activities but selling prestashop themes. If rules have no scope to deal with this, there is something wrong with the rules. A simple warning should be sufficient. And if the dealer is then breaking the rule again a ban could be considered. But this is overreacting and simply wrong.

[lesley]

@marci123 One offense opens your company up to be sanctioned. fined, and imprisoned. The fine is currently 200k for companies and 100k for individuals. The prison time is 10 years. Granted he made a mistake, but the penalties of making it are very real and expensive.

[DaoKakao]

My dime: why the penalty was so hard? As far as i could remember, the US export/import legislation allows some kind of notifications/alerts to merchants. I know, that US regulations can prohibit even a pencil if needed (this was a question at one of SUN Microsystems' exam), but also it clear says, that in ordinary cases the very first action could be a warning with requirement to cancel suspicious deal. Why Envato not chose that way? That's why i think they'd like to be more saint than Pope.

[lesley]

You might be right, but there are a few things to consider, the first being that he is not the first person that has done this. The laws around marketplaces have not caught up with the technology in a lot of areas. Another thing to consider as well is that Envato is not an American company, they are an Australian company, so the laws might be different.

[DaoKakao]

I'm from Russia. However, when my company went thru SUN's procedure of partnership, it was mandatory for us to accept the US law related to imp/exp stuff So, this could be same in case of Envato, and that's exactly why i've said, that they trying to compete with Pope in their "sanctity"

[moy2010]

Wow, this is utterly wrong. I'm glad my business is not located in the U.S. :S

[lesley]

Depending on what country the issue was, your country is likely a signatory on those sanctions as well. Most countries agree on the UN sanctions.

[moy2010]

Most of these sanctions do not come from the UN:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanctionsagainstIran

http://www.sanctionswiki.org/Syria#General

They are mostly arbitrarily applied by the EU and the U.S.

[dynambee]

@moy2010 said in Transformer & Panda ST-Themes ThemeForest account on Envato has been Suspended :(:

Wow, this is utterly wrong. I'm glad my business is not located in the U.S. :S

You don't have to be from the US to be affected the sanctions like this.

If the US decides you're helping the sanctioned countries you could find your ability to deal with any US companies to be limited or removed. No PayPal, no Stripe, no VISA, MC, or AMEX, etc. I don't know about your business but mine wouldn't survive without the ability to process those types of payments.

[marci123]

The seller is not from the US so US laws won't apply to them. Of course themeforest would have to fear them. There should be a way to make clear that future deals with the forbidden countries would result in a permanent ban and reinstate the seller. Anything else is overreacting if you ask me.

[lesley]

I think people miss how the US law system works. Some US laws apply to everyone in the world.

[marci123]

@lesley said in Transformer & Panda ST-Themes ThemeForest account on Envato has been Suspended :(:

I think people miss how the US law system works. Some US laws apply to everyone in the world.

But you can enforce US law in the USA only. Johnny cannot be imprisoned in the country where he lives if he is dealing with a country that US laws are forbidding.

[lesley]

Like was mentioned before, imagine the e-commerce world without visa, mastercard, amex, discover, paypal, ect. The US can be quick to sanction a company like Envato and tell American companies not to do business with them. This takes away their payment gateways and a large customer base.

[marci123]

@lesley said in Transformer & Panda ST-Themes ThemeForest account on Envato has been Suspended :(:

Like was mentioned before, imagine the e-commerce world without visa, mastercard, amex, discover, paypal, ect. The US can be quick to sanction a company like Envato and tell American companies not to do business with them. This takes away their payment gateways and a large customer base.

Yes, themeforest has to fear law inforcement this is why they are reacting so strict. However, most embargoes have a restriction to certain activities. There should be a scope for reinstating the seller.