Law & jurisdiction
Is offshore hosting legal?
Yes. Renting a server in another country is an ordinary commercial transaction, and no jurisdiction we operate in prohibits it. Offshore hosting changes which law governs the server and which court can compel disclosure. It does not make otherwise-illegal content legal, and it does not exempt you from the law where you live.
Two legal systems remain relevant at all times: the law of the country the server sits in, which governs the hosting, and the law of your own country, which continues to govern you. Offshore hosting affects the first and not the second.
For most customers the practical benefit is procedural. A domestic order to a domestic provider can be issued quickly and sometimes secretly. A foreign request has to travel through mutual legal assistance, which is slow, requires dual criminality under most treaties, and frequently fails for civil matters entirely.
See also: Offshore hosting
7 answers in Law & jurisdiction
- Does the DMCA apply to offshore hosting? The DMCA is United States copyright statute. Its notice-and-takedown procedure and safe harbour apply to service providers situated in the United Stat…
- What happens if you receive a subpoena or court order? We assess whether it is valid legal process from a court with jurisdiction over OnionVPS. If it is, we comply with exactly what is ordered and nothing…
- What is an MLAT and why does it matter for hosting? A mutual legal assistance treaty is the formal channel through which one country asks another to gather evidence on its behalf. It matters because a f…
- What content is not allowed on your servers? Child sexual abuse material, which we report to the appropriate authority. Malware command-and-control, ransomware infrastructure and exploit kits. Ph…
- How do you handle abuse complaints? Complaints are triaged by evidence, not by volume. Automated copyright notices to non-US locations are forwarded to you for information and no action …
- Will my server be suspended if someone complains about it? Not for a single unverified complaint. Suspension is reserved for active, ongoing harm: an instance participating in an attack, distributing malware, …