Last week, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented a new federal law imposing heavy fines for the use of VPN in the country. This law is part of a "series of new federal laws related to IT crimes," and can impose a heavy fine of up to nearly half a million dollars ($ 545,000) for the use of a VPN or proxy service in a "fraudulent" goal. Fraudulent purposes is loosely defined and includes the use of a VPN to access blocked services or content. The new law aims to prevent people from using free VOIP applications such as WhatsApp, Viber and Snapchat, which are regulated and blocked in the country. These applications allow people to communicate for free on the internet.
Telecommunications in the UAE are highly regulated, with two companies whose complete control. These firms, Etisalat and du, are the only two companies with licenses to offer commercial VoIP services. This offers them a monopoly on expensive voice call services in the country. These new laws are intended to force consumers to use one of the two telecommunications providers, allowing them to take advantage.
This law will have far-reaching consequences, as 88% of the country's population is expatriates and many use VoIP services to keep in touch with friends and family abroad. These services are sometimes used for commercial purposes as well. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE has provided more clarity in the regulations, which can be accessed here.
As a company that believes in a private Internet experience, secure and free for users worldwide, we are concerned by this Regulation of VoIP in the UAE. We believe that everyone should be able to communicate using the services and applications of their choice, and are never in favor of increasing censorship. For VyprVPN users concerned about the use of VPN, we ask that you check your local laws to make decisions about whether or not to use the service
Sources :. IB Times, ZD Net, The Next Web
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