Skype Journal confirmed that Skype users in the United Arab Emirates are blocked from the Skype.com web site. This prevents users of the Skype internet telephone system from buying minutes to call at highly discounted rates, of special importance to the many expatriates who work in Dubai. We don't know where the actual blocking is taking place (presumably at Etisalat's Emirates Internet and Multimedia, the only ISP in the UAE), at whose direction, or for what purpose.

Motives may be economic. About 2.5 million people live in the UAE, 1.6 million are non-nationals. There are more phones than people: 1.1 million land lines (operated by Etisalat) and 2.9 million mobile. Etisalat has a monopoly on telephony.

The motive may be one of political control. Skype automatically encrypts conversations, making it costly and difficult to tap conversations or determine calling patterns.