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Imprisonment or a fine for Skype users in UAE

TRA warned in UAE that use telephony applications like Skype, developed by the American company Microsoft, without appropriate authorization may be punished by imprisonment or by using a fine according to the penalties provided in the law.

This came in a statement acting Director-General of the screw for the Emirates, Majid said on Saturday, noting that Skype offers a number of services which require a license of authority such as telephony, feature to use this feature without a license entitlement means the penalty provided in Decree-Law “3″ for 2003.

The law provides for imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and a fine of not less than 50 000 AED

(13.6 dollars) and not more than million dirhams (272 dollars), or both, of the proceeds of any of the activities that fall under the Communications Act without being licensed or exempt from licensing.

It shall be liable to imprisonment as well as at least one year and a fine of not less than 50 thousand dirhams and not more than one million dirhams, or one of these penalties, anyone who illegal entry on network connections, or unlawfully used any telecommunications services.

Although my company Etisalat and du took up ban on Skype last April, the two companies have not confirmed the screw extend so far formal requests to put Skype in the State. The existence of significant difference for participants between the two companies licensed to provide their services via Skype, and that application is downloaded via the site, as is currently happening by a large number of the population, he said.

He added that service through my company to make voice calls and video calls via mobile phone to another requires the consent of the Commission, stressing that the download Skype website does not give subscribers the right to utilize the services of voice calls and video calls via the application.

Director General Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA said last month that the Commission would not mind serving voice calls over Internet Protocol in the UAE under the license granted to the two companies, adding that the players of Etisalat and du to provide the service, but instead prevent any body corporate not authorized to work in the UAE to provide telecommunications services.