In theory couldn't we get offshore hosting...

[who is]

From a trusted forum member in an "offshore" country?

I've spend a few days going through threads and threads about offshore hosting and really no solid answers yet. Found a few companies here and there, but the threads are old, and now those companies are either offline or have really bad reviews about ripping off customers and their domains.

I'm a bit new to this, so please forgive me if this is ridiculous thought, but are there trusted forum members here who live in offshore locations? For those of us looking to get offshore services couldn't we work together to help with the cost of servers and other necessary supplies to get a small/private hosting company started. Then all pay a monthly fee (similar to hosting) that takes care of cost and gives the forum member a little side cash?

Again, I'm new at all this, but was just a thought. I'd appreciate any insight.

 

[BHopkins]

If it were that easy, everyone would create an offshore hosting company. Hosting isn't an easy business and the margins are low. Then you need datacenters that will allow anything.

 

[tajmahal]

Do you want to explain your definition about offshore hosting and what type of stuff you would like to host there... I can help you a lot if you give me enough information..

 

[who is]

If it were that easy, everyone would create an offshore hosting company. Hosting isn't an easy business and the margins are low. Then you need datacenters that will allow anything.

Well I am assuming there are others (like me) who would be willing cough up some of the cost in exchange for someone to run it.

Do you want to explain your definition about offshore hosting and what type of stuff you would like to host there... I can help you a lot if you give me enough information..

Like most, I want something that is anonymous. Preferably in a country where US gov couldn't come boss people around to force info (i.e. EU). I think there are a lot of people out there, like me, who would be willing to help front the cost in a crowd source environment. Obviously it would have to be similar type businesses. I don't want to be hosting on a server shared with a terrorist group.. giving more likelyhood outside forces can get in. But simple BH businesses hosted together in a country with low regulation should allow the forum member that runs it to keep info private.. right? Someone who understands how that process works. I have happy customers, with zero complaints, but I would like to remain anonymous through everything I do for many different reasons.

 

[darwin33]

Well I am assuming there are others (like me) who would be willing cough up some of the cost in exchange for someone to run it. Like most, I want something that is anonymous. Preferably in a country where US gov couldn't come boss people around to force info (i.e. EU). I think there are a lot of people out there, like me, who would be willing to help front the cost in a crowd source environment. Obviously it would have to be similar type businesses. I don't want to be hosting on a server shared with a terrorist group.. giving more likelyhood outside forces can get in. But simple BH businesses hosted together in a country with low regulation should allow the forum member that runs it to keep info private.. right? Someone who understands how that process works. I have happy customers, with zero complaints, but I would like to remain anonymous through everything I do for many different reasons.

what does anonymity has to do with being offshore? you can be anonymous in the US, you can be anonymous in EU or ASIA. just buy the service with unidentifiable means (LR, paypal with vcc's, vcc's etc). if you need as server where the US can't just barge in, what you mean by the "US"? because if some Joe Doe tries to get your info most providers will ignore but if the FBI wants to get your "info" i doubt there are many hosting providers that will refuse to forfeit just because any hosting service that offers you bandwidth and has IP's needs to have a decent relationship with the US. you could try Irani or Chinese servers but except those most likely any "offshore" location will gladly pass on "info" to anyone with a solid reason. its just business common sense... nobody wants to fuck with an authority for 20$ / month especially when they risk business threatening repercussions. i wouldn't worry unless you really tie your name and identification with the server or unless you do something really fuc*ed up. paradoxically the best choices for privacy and freedom of speech are the developed countries like NL or Sweden and not the offshore jurisdictions that have no real laws and that everything is at the decision of an uneducated webmaster. you are safer is a lawful country than in a el dorado ... my opinion.

 

[rugbyjack2005]

Why bother? If you are talking about hosting websites then you would need to do it on a a very big scale to make it worthwhile (hardware costs, bandwidth, virus protection etc.) and given that most web hosting is less than $10, there's no point. You can even get $1 per month hosting but I only use them for micro/niche sites personally.

If you are talking about VPSs or dedicated servers to run SEO tools off, then it is viable cost wise but I certainly wouldn't want to risk my IP with Noobs who don't know what they are doing spamming things.

It's a nice idea but not practical in my opinion

 

[LanceV]

I think one of the things to remember is that off-shore hosting is certainly a value added service and therefore the priceing is much higher than that of regular hosting, you are paying for the anonymity, however it is important to note that you may not get the reliability you are used to with some of these companies, the larger the company the more difficult it is for them to stay "off-shore" as they will recieve political pressure from the US, ICANN and their local government if they become a sizeable enough group

 

[who is]

I think one of the things to remember is that off-shore hosting is certainly a value added service and therefore the priceing is much higher than that of regular hosting, you are paying for the anonymity, however it is important to note that you may not get the reliability you are used to with some of these companies, the larger the company the more difficult it is for them to stay "off-shore" as they will recieve political pressure from the US, ICANN and their local government if they become a sizeable enough group

Agree. I'm not really understanding the two posts before you that just talk about the barriers of cost. They need to read the OP. This is a value add, and it should cost extra money. There are people, like me, who are willing to pay more for real anonymity. The more I read the two post before you, the more I feel like they did not read the OP. A trusted forum member would be needed because then we wouldn't have to worry about them giving our information for money or threats. Obviously we're not talking about someone that lives in the UK, or US.

The thought was that I would think there is a trusted forum member that could give a cost to make it worthwhile. What does it cost for start up and to maintain the equipment. What does it cost to make it worth not only their time, but the risks involved. What makes it worth it to ignore any authority, and help out some members in the BHW community? Again, not for someone that is in the EU... someone that is in a country with low regulation and little to no treaties with the US in relevant areas. So you add up all those costs, and maybe there is a small group of guys like me who are willing to cover those cost in exchange for that value add. The host could obviously decide what websites they wanted.

 

[rugbyjack2005]

Agree. I'm not really understanding the two posts before you that just talk about the barriers of cost. They need to read the OP. This is a value add, and it should cost extra money. There are people, like me, who are willing to pay more for real anonymity. The more I read the two post before you, the more I feel like they did not read the OP. A trusted forum member would be needed because then we wouldn't have to worry about them giving our information for money or threats. Obviously we're not talking about someone that lives in the UK, or US

You have created a post asking people's opinions about whether it would be worth setting up a private hosting company and people have given there opinion. Just because you got a few answers saying something you didn't want to hear doesn't mean they haven't read your post properly.

If money isn't the main issue, what is and why is setting up your own hosting company more anonymous than buying hosting elsewhere? You will still require bandwidth and therefore you have to answer to an ISP. Hiding your IP is the same whether the machine is in front of you or in a data centre somewhere else. You will still need a VPN like hidemyass or to use proxies

 

[sirgold]

And there's always some inherent risks involved. From today's frontpage: http://www.dailydot.com/news/sweden-pirate-named-ip-address-court/

 

[who is]

You have created a post asking people's opinions about whether it would be worth setting up a private hosting company and people have given there opinion. Just because you got a few answers saying something you didn't want to hear doesn't mean they haven't read your post properly.

If money isn't the main issue, what is and why is setting up your own hosting company more anonymous than buying hosting elsewhere? You will still require bandwidth and therefore you have to answer to an ISP. Hiding your IP is the same whether the machine is in front of you or in a data centre somewhere else. You will still need a VPN like hidemyass or to use proxies

It wasn't about getting answers I did not want to hear, it was responses like "Why bother" that adds nothing to the thread. If you are saying something like why bother, it sounds to me like this is not something you care about. So why are you even replying? As mentioned in the OP the idea would be to have members (who are interested) band together to cover the costs. No where does it mention cost being an issue. In fact it specifically says the idea would be that we would "cover the cost". Just because some feel it is too expensive for them, does not mean others can't afford it and try to get it done. I am more concerned with the idea of (again see OP), is this even possible?

Now, bringing up things like having to answer to an ISP brings value to this conversation and helps answer the OP. This could be a viable reason for not being able to get it done.

What are the steps an authority would take to get website ownership information? They would contact the ISP first I take it? Protecting their customers could be financially beneficial to an ISP. If we are talking about a country with no treaties with US and low regulations... isn't it fair to say there could be an ISP that would ignore any requests? If so, what what countries are we talking about?

 

[who is]

Great post SirGold. This is definitely something that could make it not possible. It mentions Sweeden is one of the most internet friendly countries in the world. Do you think that is out of all countries... or only ones with top tier infrastructures as well?

I would think there is some countries that might not have the best infrastructure, but just don't care about another country trying to come in and shut down a hosting company. I'm not talking about child content, or terrorist groups. Maybe there are a few forum members who are involved in digital copyright, or replicas, etc.

I would assume one place to start would be non mlat countries? I haven't been able to find any. I believe Japan, New Zealand, and Ireland are not.. but have a similar treaty on the side. Based on their other regulations and relationships with US/EU governments I would assume they are not a viable option.

 

[Danny1111]

Well if you are living in the USA - and the government or anyone wants to find you - there are so many ways its not worth it in my opinion.

Possible ways they can discover you : Domain Registrar / Affiliate Company / Hosting Company / Your Bank - via Visa Card-Mastercard or Bank Wire.

So your down to Russia or China or maybe some other lower tier type country - you would need to set up a company - and use a currency other than USD - so you wouldn't use US Banking System.

Better to move to another country other than USA and set this type of thing up - because bottom line - once the money gets big enough you would run into trouble.

 

[rugbyjack2005]

It wasn't about getting answers I did not want to hear, it was responses like "Why bother" that adds nothing to the thread. If you are saying something like why bother, it sounds to me like this is not something you care about. So why are you even replying? As mentioned in the OP the idea would be to have members (who are interested) band together to cover the costs. No where does it mention cost being an issue. In fact it specifically says the idea would be that we would "cover the cost". Just because some feel it is too expensive for them, does not mean others can't afford it and try to get it done. I am more concerned with the idea of (again see OP), is this even possible?

Why bother = there is no merit in it because it will cost more with no added benefit. Just because you can afford it doesn't make it worthwhile... There is no benefit because it does not add any extra layer of anonymity.

Personally I think your thread has the wrong title as what you are really asking is how to anonymously host a website, not is it viable to set up a private hosting company.

The only reason I can see someone wanting anonymously host a site is to do something illegal which I'm pretty sure goes against forum rules!

 

[queenmery]

I think you are capable of doing something like that.