A series of new laws in the UAE regarding IT crimes have been released. Why’s that news? Well, the most pertinent addition is that anyone found to be using a VPN or proxy server in the UAE ‘to commit or prevent the discovery of a crime’ can face imprisonment and/or a fine ranging from Dhs500,000 to Dhs2 million.

This is big news because the fine previously used to be between Dhs150,000 and Dhs500,000.

VPN stands for ‘Virtual Private Network’, and allows users on the internet to connect to private networks, providing them with privacy and changing their virtual location.

With their virtual location changed, VPN users can bypass region restrictions, allowing them access to blocked websites in the country.

This news comes after the UAE has started cracking down on online piracy: last month, an Abu Dhabi man was jailed for stealing and illegally uploading TV series and films from TV platform OSN.

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VPNs are common in places like China to access blocked social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook.

The new VPN law, introduced by President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, states: “Whoever uses a fraudulent computer network protocol address (IP address) by using a false address or a third-party address by any other means for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its discovery, shall be punished by temporary imprisonment and a fine of no less than Dhs500,000 and not exceeding Dhs2 million, or either of these two penalties.”

Exactly what the crimes are that are covered in the law is not yet clear, but many UAE residents are thought to be users of VPNs, with people using them to access restricted content and internet calling programmes such as Skype.

The previous laws regarding the use of VPNs in the UAE was restricted to prosecuting those who employed them for the sake of committing internet crimes.

However, UK-based VPN and privacy advocate Private Internet Access told the IB Times that the new UAE law would enable law enforcement to actively pursue anybody who chooses to use a VPN to access restricted content.

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