Some more information from a posting on another forum in relation to the original "news" article and comments...
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Sean M.
July 28, 2016 at 7:46 am
Your commentary is entirely misleading. VPNs are very much legal in the UAE and our company based here uses one that is provided by state-owned Etisalat. The new law only applies if the VPN is used with the intention of committing fraud to access sites that fall under any of the following 13 categories.
1) Sites that promote content to bypass blocked content
2) Sites that contain content for learning criminal skills
3) Sites that deal with online dating or matchmaking or that contradict the ethics and morals of the UAE with the exception of chat services, social networks and discussion forums.
4) Sites that contain content regarding illegal drugs
5) Sites that contain coughography and nudity
6) Sites that contain gambling content
7) Sites that contain content regarding hacking and malicious codes with the exception of sites dealing with ethical hacking and information security.
8) Sites that express hate to any religion
9) Phishing content
10) Sites that are known to download Spyware
11) Sites that provide unlicensed VOIP services
12) Sites that provide information related to encouraging terrorism
13) Prohibited sites that are contrary to the public interest"