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Privacy Security Your Rights Online

Using VPN in UAE Could Cost You $545,000 (businessinsider.com) 109

Posted by msmash from the they-call-the-shots dept.
An anonymous reader writes: The President of the United Arab Emirates has issued a series of new federal laws relating to IT crimes, including a regulation that forbids anyone in the UAE from making use of virtual private networks to secure their web traffic from prying eyes. The new law states that anyone who uses a VPN or proxy server can be imprisoned and fined between $136,000-$545,000 if they are found to use VPNs fraudulently. Previously, the law was restricted to prosecuting people who used VPNs as part of an internet crime, but UK-based VPN and privacy advocate Private Internet Access says that the law has now changed to enable police in the UAE to go after anyone who uses VPNs to access blocked services, which is considered to be fraudulent use of an IP address.
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Using VPN in UAE Could Cost You $545,000 More

Using VPN in UAE Could Cost You $545,000

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  • that's (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28, 2016 @11:24AM (#52599451)

    freaking scary. Of course, the good ol' U.S.A. will never get that scary. Not ever. Not even in the next 5 years or so. Never.

  • Corporate VPNs too? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ...and how does one define the use of VPNs fraudulently? Not very enlightened or informed.

    • It says in the summery! "the law has now changed to enable police in the UAE to go after anyone who uses VPNs to access blocked services, which is considered to be fraudulent use of an IP address." You do not even need to click the link!

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "It says in the summery!"

        Summery? Yes, in the Northern Hemisphere. And?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Zocalo ( 252965 )
        True, but since it doesn't actually ban the use of VPNs, a better question would be how would they *know* whether I was using a VPN to access a site they had blocked or just accessing some perfectly legal resource that they haven't proscribed like a corporate server? From the UAE's perspective VPN traffic leaving the UAE is VPN traffic leaving the UAE, no more no less - they have no way of knowing the ultimate end point, only the address of VPN server I'm connected to.

        I suspect if there is an answer it'
        • It is a tack on crime. When they bust in and you are on unveiledteens.com that will tack on the VPN crime as well as all the rest.

    • Re:Corporate VPNs too? (Score:4, Informative)

      by bev_tech_rob ( 313485 ) on Thursday July 28, 2016 @11:39AM (#52599593)

      ...and how does one define the use of VPNs fraudulently? Not very enlightened or informed.

      According to the article (which I assume you read), use of a VPN fraudulently would be connecting to blocked services in the country in question, like Snapchat, WhatsApp, etc. that have VOIP capabilities.

      The government is basically protecting the revenues of the state telecoms that are threatened by this technology...and oh yeah, 'security'.

      • ... (which I assume you read) ...

        Hehe... you must be new here :P

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Salgak1 ( 20136 )

        I seem to recall reading something about that, involving Narus, before they got bought by Boeing. . .

        Example of the Saudis doing it:

        http://www.businesswire.com/ne... [businesswire.com]

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Not corporate interests. MUSLIM interests, to make sure you're not doing anything to erode their Islamic culture. It's literally headed toward panopticon-style thought police.

        Muslims are inherently against freedom, unless it is the kind of "freedom" the desert paedofile prophet's modern cabal approves of.

        -captain

    • All suspects are guilty! Otherwise, they would not be suspects, now, would they?

    • Same logic as with porn: I know it when I see it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Salgak1 ( 20136 )

      Given the brief time I was there, I'm guessing the primary common-but-"criminal" use is to block prohibited content.

      i.e. Porn, but possibly non-Islamic religious sites (was only there 48 hours, and was working or sleeping for most of it. . .)

  • Coming to your country too (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Thursday July 28, 2016 @11:29AM (#52599511) Homepage Journal
    If you don't think this will come to YOUR country, you are mistaken. Eventually everyone will need to connect to the Internet using only approved devices and software. You don't think this is possible? It is technically possible to do. It will be done in the name of piracy/terrorism/children/et al.
    • There is no need to go that far. If you control the pathway, you control the data. The next step will be local mesh, and they will try to regulate that. In the US it will be hard because the freedom of assembly is kinda classically important, but I wouldn't put it past them. Look what they did to the 2nd...

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Ed Tice ( 3732157 )
        If you are referring to the 2nd amendment to the US constitution, gun ownership rights are expanding in the US, not contracting. Twenty years ago, the general consensus was that the 2nd amendment did not constitute an individual right to own firearms, but rather the right of individual states to maintain a national guard. Now it has expanded to the right to individual weapon ownership and we're exploring the boundaries of that protection. If other freedoms expand the way the 2nd amendment has, the US wil

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          what world do you live in? i had no problem buying or owning guns 20 years ago. about 23 years ago you didn't even need a background check prior to buying one. it has gotten more difficult to buy them.

          i suppose assault weapons got harder to acquire then easier again because of the federal ban from about 1993 to 2004

          • It seems to me that it's now radically easier to own and/or carry a gun in a lot of places where back in the 70s it was basically impossible. IIRC, concealed carry was not allowed very much in most states back then, that's actually a somewhat new thing.

      • Uh, what exactly have they done to the second amendment?
        • Limited it. Significantly. How about free assembly also being limited to people who have not been felons? After a background check? Only allowed with a permit in most states? And so on... No PAs at meetings unless you are law enforcement...

      • The next step will be local mesh, and they will try to regulate that.

        Yeah, I have to admit, radio signals are easy to locate and jam. We are in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?

        The cat wins this round. Let's see what shakes out. Maybe we'll get our sub-space secure channels sooner than originally thought. There has to be a way to render them harmless. What happened the miraculous 3D printers to make our own electronics? Then maybe we can overwhelm the with millions of relays floating in the wind like confetti.

        • The next step will be local mesh, and they will try to regulate that.

          Yeah, I have to admit, radio signals are easy to locate and jam. We are in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?

          But full jamming block police communication too...
          The will start by turning off the cell networks. Then people will get a wifi mesh app to get around it. And so on... Just more rat race, but we have more rats!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      As much as conservatives get emotional about trusting The Gov't with regard to guns, I'm surprised they've been relatively eager to hand over privacy to them.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Eventually everyone will need to connect to the Internet using only approved devices and software.

      This might actually have been practical back in the day when essentially 99% of users connected via a Windows PC or a Mac. ISPs could have been required to only accept certified connections from these operating systems and these operating systems locked down. This might have been achiveable in (say) 5 years.
      Now there are millions of constantly changing and rapindly multiplying devices ranging from tiny IOT devi

    • Also, Rap music will be banned. All music playing devices will only be able to output encrypted waveforms from digitally signed audio files to DRMed speakers. Think this can't happen? It is technically possible to do so. Nobody is going to be willing to risk listening to rap music if the punishment is a bullet to their head from a police drone.
    • "Behind Winston's back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig-iron and the overfulfilment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment

  • enable police in the UAE to go after anyone who uses VPNs to access blocked services

    That using a VPN to work-around the blocks is made illegal makes perfect sense. The blocks' existence is the real outrage here, not the fact, that it is illegal to evade them.

  • Use the TPP lawsuits to stop this as this hurts business use

  • Hughes and other satellite internet providers are going to be happy.
    • Then the UAE will require Hughes to block based on geolocation of the transmitter, or forbid use if satellite services without a government license. You're assuming there is some sort of limit to the authority of an authoritarian regime.
      • They can't possibly check for everything. If you want to hide your communication, with modern electronics, there's just too many ways for DIY subversion of any measures such a regime could to impose on you. And the means to spy on people with human resources anywhere close to 1:1 are astronomical for any state.

  • Those who have an issue with these laws will simply move to nations that do not have them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by iCEBaLM ( 34905 )

      Because it's just so simple to move to another country of your choosing.

      • It really is. Join a terrorist organization, get yourself onto an operation that requires long-term infiltration of the United States or UK or such, use your contacts in the organization to move into the target zone, and then defect.

    • Re:Free Markets (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday July 28, 2016 @12:16PM (#52599893)

      Care to inform us what genuinely free countries remain? My bags are packed, I'm just looking for a destination.

      • I'm just looking for a destination.

        You will have to find another solar system. This one and a bit beyond is entirely occupied. And considering the nature of all life forms (the rules of the universe are constant. Might makes right), you probably won't have much luck anywhere else.

      • Well the concept of a country implies a government which is inherently authoritarian. If you want genuine freedom, you need to live in a territorial anarchy. There are several uninhabited islands that are effectively anarchies, even if there are nations that claim nominally ownership of them. You can live your whole life there without anyone ever knowing. And if a government does come to evict you, you have the option of moving somewhere else, or attempting to defend yourself with deadly force.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luthair ( 847766 )
      Free market huh? I guess that's why its also not legal to murder someone, because the country isn't a Free Market?
  • Looks like the key issue is "..if they are found to use VPNs fraudulently". This is a lower bar compared to the previous "(using) VPNs as part of an internet crime". Is the VPN itself even relevant here? Sounds like internet "fraud" (apparently defined in UAE as including connecting to unauthorized services) is the issue.

  • Well that's OK then (Score:3)

    by clickclickdrone ( 964164 ) on Thursday July 28, 2016 @12:01PM (#52599775)
    Still, they buy an awful lot of our weapons so we'll just keep on turning a blind eye to all this stuff.
  • People just can't be happy unless they are telling someone else what to do. Fuck you and you inclination to control.

  • VPN (Score:2)

    by Max_W ( 812974 )
    There is not much difference. As we know from Edward VPNs are a sham. A VPN has got a backdoor anyway, so without a VPN it is just a bit less electricity.
  • You can still keep your head on your neck!

  • So if I configure my emulated Amiga to use VPN it's gonna cost half a million? That's just crazy.

  • It's time for us to stop buying anything from or selling anything to these countries. As soon as they have to apply their remaining capital to growing their own basic necessities, there will be less left over for international terrorism. If Obama's successor lets Canadian oil back in again, we will be 'terrorism free' in that commodity.

  • Airports? Dubai? Abu Dhabi? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NotAPK ( 4529127 ) on Thursday July 28, 2016 @06:26PM (#52602963)

    Does anyone know if this will apply to use of VPNs while at the Dubai or Abu Dhabi airports?

    I fly through there regularly and as part of my standard policy I always use a VPN on unknown networks.

    It would really suck to be laying over for a couple of hours and being picked up by the cops while surfing the net.

    I also wonder how this will impact the many foreign contractors who must visit regularly and need VPN access back to head office.

    Any thoughts? Or is this just another pointless unenforceable law?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Well, just don't visit any "blocked" sites. You better check which these are... Oh, there is no list available? Now thats a shame....

  • What if you use a corporate VPN to connect to company servers in, for example, the US, but tunnel all traffic through it?

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