The current version of the game is "Version 2.26 Patch 1", as displayed in the upper left corner of the startup screen. If your version is older, donnload and install the full version of the game over the top of your existing installation.
If you are running the current version of the game and are getting that message, it does mean something is blocking the games access to the Internet. If your firewall is Nortin, then try removing "aceshigh.exe" from the firewall database and insert it again. Norton is really bad about getting its database corrupted.
If you are running any anti-xxx software (such as AVG) then shut it down. Various versions of anti-xxx software will block the game from accessing the Internet.
