Dear Fediverse Administrators,
Please consider relocating your website to a web hosting provider based outside the United States of America.
Historically, fascist governments do not ignore the little guy -- That's you, and your users.
#Fediverse #Fedi #ActivityPub #Mastodon #Misskey #CherryPick #IceShrimp #Sharkey #WebHosting #Cdn #Dns #WebHost #Hosting #Vpn
A few people asked if I have a list of providers, outside the United States.
YES, I have a list of Domain Registers, Web Hosting, Privacy Focused E-mail, Managed DNS, Public DNS, CDN, and VPN providers that I have confirmed as not based out of the USA or owned by a USA company.
I am interested in expanding this list, so if anyone has any suggestions, please speak up.
UPDATED = February 2, 2025 List of service providers outside the United States jurisdiction. π π€« VPN = * iVPN, located in Gibraltar, Europe (UK territory) https://www.ivpn.net/ * Mullvad VPN, located in Sweden, Europe https://mullvad.net/ * Goose VPN, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://goosevpn.com/ * Xeovo VPN, located in Finland, Europe https://xeovo.com/ π Managed DNS = * AdGuard DNS, located in Cyprus, Europe https://adguard-dns.io/ * ClouDNS, located in Bulgaria, Europe https://www.cloudns.net/ * deSEC, located in Germany, Europe https://desec.io/ π Public DNS = * CIRA Canadian Shield, located in Canada, North America https://www.cira.ca/en/canadian-shield/configure/ * Mullvad DNS, located in Sweden, Europe https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls π Privacy focused e-mail = * Tuta, located in Germany, Europe https://tuta.com/ * Soverin, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://soverin.com/ * Startmail, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://www.startmail.com/ * Mailfence, located in Belgium, Europe https://mailfence.com/ π Domain Registration / Web Hosting = * Scalewy, located in France, Europe https://www.scaleway.com/ * OVH, located in France, Europe https://www.ovhcloud.com/ * Jottam located in Norway, Europe https://jottacloud.com * Aruba, located in Italy, Europe https://aruba.it * Hosting Dot NL, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://hosting.nl * Bahnhof, located in Sweden, Europe https://bahnhof.cloud * Glesys, located in Sweden, Europe https://glesys.com/ π CDN = * OVH, located in France, Europe https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/web-hosting/options/cdn/ * Key CDN, located in Switzerland, Europe https://www.keycdn.com/ Naturally, making this list is not easy. These are two types of companies I avoided in making my list. 1) Those who actually fall under US-jurisdiction because they are based or owned by a company in the USA. More than often, I will stumble over a company that appears to be outside the USA, but later find they are owned by another corporation based inside the USA, and so they do fall under US-jurisdiction. 2) Those who voluntarily give up their sovereignty to the United States. The 2nd type, who voluntarily gives up their sovereignty in the way of US jurisdiction, have whole sections of their terms concerning US Laws and US based customers. If a fascist government says jump, these people will ask, how high?! I encourage people to scrutinize my list. The old saying, "trust, but verify", is something I believe in. #Vpn #Dns #Cdn #Email #WebHosting #RuleOfLaw #Justice #FreedomOfSpeech #Project2025 #Facism #Nazis
@Linux Watch the tld, just because the registrar may be outside the US depending on the tld they may be beholden to the US
For instance my mastodon is currently on a .net domain so still under US influence even if I chose to use a different registrar.
Domain name registration is something people often forget about, and you are correct.
Dot Com, Net, Org, Info, US, and Edu all fall under US-jurisdiction.
Mega Upload, is a historical reference of a Dot Com, when the US has pulled down a domain name. Although, that is a rare occurrence, as the government usually targets the content and not the domain name.
However, since times are changing, people should be mindful.
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Many word-base domain extensions also fall under Us-jurisdiction. That because many word-based domain name extensions are managed by US-based corporations.
Dot Social, is one such example.
I would avoid word-based domain names, because corporation can be bought.
I would suggest people attempt to pick a country top level domain name, when possible. For example, Dot SE (Sweden) or Dot CA (Canada).
I know Canada requires some hard proof you're doing business legitimately in Canada if you're not Canadian.
@Linux @Dragon Ahem. Domain name seizures are not a rare occurence. It happens enough to have a wikipedia category page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Domain_name_seizures_by_United_States
Further, in 2012 (Obama-era) another 132 domains seized in collaboration in Europol, including ccTLDs like be/eu/dk/fr/ro/uk:
https://edri.org/our-work/edrigramnumber10-23european-domains-seized-by-us/
And now, another 690 domains taken in Europe:
@[email protected] Nord VPN is not a normal company. A normal company has a growing period and slowly earns people's trust. Nord VPN, however, came out of thin air and was everywhere. There was a time, you could not watch a single YouTube video, or visit pretty much any major website, without seeing an ad for Nord VPN. Today, Nord VPN even own Surfshark VPN, but they don't advertise that fact. Nord VPN bought out Surfshark VPN, 4 years ago (see Wikipedia URL). They remind me of a government program, that was used to collect information on people, under the umbrella of a corporation. Very well funded, and seemingly out of nowhere, but everywhere. I'm not saying, that is who or what they are, but I have an uneasy feeling concerning a business that did not need to earn their success. I'll need to look into Hostinger (count this as post 1 of 2) (Also see 2nd Wikipedia URL on Nord) Info on Surfshark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfshark_VPN Info on Nord https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NordVPN RE: @[email protected] what's your take on Nord and Hostinger out of Lithuania? RE: ...
@Linux Being paranoid is not always a bad proposition.
However, I don't think your criticisms are more founded than any other conspiracy theory about Honey Pot VPNs - unless of course you have proof that goes beyond your stated reasoning.
@Linux This is a very good attempt. Spread it.
https://www.loopia.com/ is a service/DNS provider. One of the larger in Sweden.
Copyright Loopia AB 1999 - 2025
Loopia is part of team.blue
Upon looking up, "team blue"
> "We have 60+ brands across 22 European countries"
https://team.blue/our-ecosystem/
I am not even going to look into that. Team Blue is one of those mega (large) corporations that own other corporations, who own other corporations, who may have other invested interest.
I will not suggest people avoid it, but I will not recommend it either.
The goal is to find providers which can easily be verified not to fall under Us-jurisdiction.
Super large corporations like that are nearly always running a US-based incorporated business somewhere, and even if today, they're not, it would be hard to know what they're doing tomorrow, just because they're so damn large.
But thanks for the suggestion, nonetheless.
@Linux I will attend the Nordic Domain Days 2025 where I will meet some colleagues and I will discuss this. I have been working with this things, I am and old IETF member.
/Jan
@Linux
Yep. Everything we host is located in the European Union, operated by EU and Swiss companies.
You should find another hosting provider, because I would not recommend, Hostinger (they're partly based out of the USA).
The company is basically one of those corporations that makes up many other corporations, with investing companies holding interest. They previously had web hosting services in the United States (you see that easy enough on Wikipedia), and while they may have ended those sub companies, they kept the US-based incorporation and even use it to process payments (see URL)
> " HOSTINGER US INC., registered at 1201 North Market Street, Suite 111-F69, Wilmington, DE 19801, United States "
This means they still fall under US-jurisdiction since they do have an Us-based company.
https://www.hostinger.com/legal/universal-terms-of-service-agreement
@Linux
I use the EU-based corporation. The company is HQ in Lithuania in EU. You'd have a hard-time finding a large company with no ties to US whatsoever (subsidiary, investors,...) so I believe it's as good as it can get. Any alternative suggestions with: no subsidiary in the US, no investor from the US, no business in US$ (which is sufficient matter for DoJ filing a case using extraterritoriality)?
From their ToS:
"Any other country not listed above (including EU countries), then the contracting entity will be Hostinger International Ltd., Cyprus private limited company, registered address 61 Lordou Vironos str., 6023 Larnaca, Cyprus."
@barbapulpe A few people asked if I have a list of providers, outside the United States.
YES, I have a list of Domain Registers, Web Hosting, Privacy Focused E-mail, Managed DNS, Public DNS, CDN, and VPN providers that I have confirmed as not based out of the USA or owned by a USA company.
I am interested in expanding this list, so if anyone has any suggestions, please speak up.
UPDATED = February 2, 2025 List of service providers outside the United States jurisdiction. π π€« VPN = * iVPN, located in Gibraltar, Europe (UK territory) https://www.ivpn.net/ * Mullvad VPN, located in Sweden, Europe https://mullvad.net/ * Goose VPN, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://goosevpn.com/ * Xeovo VPN, located in Finland, Europe https://xeovo.com/ π Managed DNS = * AdGuard DNS, located in Cyprus, Europe https://adguard-dns.io/ * ClouDNS, located in Bulgaria, Europe https://www.cloudns.net/ * deSEC, located in Germany, Europe https://desec.io/ π Public DNS = * CIRA Canadian Shield, located in Canada, North America https://www.cira.ca/en/canadian-shield/configure/ * Mullvad DNS, located in Sweden, Europe https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls π Privacy focused e-mail = * Tuta, located in Germany, Europe https://tuta.com/ * Soverin, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://soverin.com/ * Startmail, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://www.startmail.com/ * Mailfence, located in Belgium, Europe https://mailfence.com/ π Domain Registration / Web Hosting = * Scalewy, located in France, Europe https://www.scaleway.com/ * OVH, located in France, Europe https://www.ovhcloud.com/ * Jottam located in Norway, Europe https://jottacloud.com * Aruba, located in Italy, Europe https://aruba.it * Hosting Dot NL, located in the Netherlands, Europe https://hosting.nl * Bahnhof, located in Sweden, Europe https://bahnhof.cloud * Glesys, located in Sweden, Europe https://glesys.com/ π CDN = * OVH, located in France, Europe https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/web-hosting/options/cdn/ * Key CDN, located in Switzerland, Europe https://www.keycdn.com/ Naturally, making this list is not easy. These are two types of companies I avoided in making my list. 1) Those who actually fall under US-jurisdiction because they are based or owned by a company in the USA. More than often, I will stumble over a company that appears to be outside the USA, but later find they are owned by another corporation based inside the USA, and so they do fall under US-jurisdiction. 2) Those who voluntarily give up their sovereignty to the United States. The 2nd type, who voluntarily gives up their sovereignty in the way of US jurisdiction, have whole sections of their terms concerning US Laws and US based customers. If a fascist government says jump, these people will ask, how high?! I encourage people to scrutinize my list. The old saying, "trust, but verify", is something I believe in. #Vpn #Dns #Cdn #Email #WebHosting #RuleOfLaw #Justice #FreedomOfSpeech #Project2025 #Facism #Nazis
The most important is that Company providing services be under non-US juridiction and datacenters and operations outside the US too. Only the latter is not enough as you point out, a US-company hosting your data in EU can be forced to surrender that data to US (CLOUD Act / FISAA). Using either OVH or Hostinger EU services, we should be fine.
Posteo cannot be listed (nor trusted), because it is a Sole Proprietorship. I was very surprised to learn that fact, given the nature and size of the business. As a Sole Proprietorship, the "business" is the owner and the owner are the business, which means as American citizens, Posteo would fall under US-Jurisdiction.
Mail Box Dot Org, deletes accounts after 30 days of inactivity. I am not going to recommend a provider, that is quick to delete accounts.
@Linux @barbapulpe How does a German company that is owned by German citizens automatically fall under US-Jurisdiction? Or do you think that Sole Propietorship as a legal form itself is a potential risk?
As far as I understand Mailbox.org FAQ they will delete accounts for missing payments but not due to inactivity. They will restrict the accout to read/receive only for 30 days and inactivate for another 30 days. After a total of 60 days the account will be deleted.
@Linux If you are using https://masto.host fΓΌr your service, you are safe because their hosts are located in France, Europe!
I would feel better if they used a different CDN provider, considering their current CDN provider will pass all the billing information and details of your account to several American companies.
Some of those companies have partnerships with Facebook / Meta.
@Linux @dnkrupinski Just don't use a #CDN at all!
Key CDN, located in Switzerland, Europe
https://www.keycdn.com/
Although, I do need to work on my list of CDN providers. If anyone has other providers to suggest, I would be interested in adding them to my public list.
Yes, they are very transparent that they plan on sharing your information with the American companies.
Truly an unfortunate sign of the times.
Exactly.
I"ve been recommending this ever since #Zuckerberg collaborated with the FBI.
Further, all US corporate social media employ many former CIA and FBI employees. 1)
Remember: what's legal today might be illegal tomorrow, even retroactively under authoritarian rulers, e.g. abortion, pharmaceuticals, same-sex marriage...
And: the internet and the agencies never forget.
#BigBrotherIsWatchingYou...better than ever before.
1)
https://nypost.com/2022/12/22/facebook-twitter-stocked-with-ex-fbi-cia-officials/
You should, considering Mastodon Dot Social, may be managed out of Germany, but the web hosting service provider is FASTLY Dot Com which is based in the United States.
I can also say that the administrator, @stux is good people. I used to have an account there.
Currently, Mastodon does not support post imports. There is actually no creditable development team on the Fedi that current supports post imports.
There is a development known as Sharkey (someone will bring them up, if I don't), but the development is shady. Tricked their user base out of 2,000 bucks for a server they used to play Minecraft, and then pulled it and kept it as their home PC, while claiming "new" management (wink, wink).
You're hosted by OVH -- You're good.
(To be more accurate, Masto.host which uses OVH).
You do not want to use a server located within the United States. Most web hosting providers, who offer US-based servers, fall into two categories.
1) They're a customer.
OVH, for example, has no actual servers or data centers in the United States. They lease their servers, from other providers (host). It's why if you ever order a US-base server the quality and support will vary.
This is also why, when OVH hosted WikiLeaks, they fought the US Government in court, and won.
2) They, themselves, have their own servers and data centers in the USA.
These businesses would fall under US-jurisdiction. And so I try to avoid them. It is why, for example, I removed Netcup, because they've recently started offering their own services in the USA.
The 1st type of company, I don't mind having on the list. I trust people to be smart enough not to pick a US-based server. The 2nd kind of business, I would not recommend.
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