Selecting an offshore web hosting

Even though the Internet spans continents, antiquated legal restrictions may make it necessary to utilize an offshore web hosting plan to serve up your content. Since some national jurisdictions are more permissive than others concerning adult content, gaming, et cetera, many restrictions can be sidestepped by careful selection of the country in which your servers reside. Furthermore, if you accept payment over the web there may be advantages regarding the tax status of your business using an offshore web hosting plan.

Panama is a popular choice for offshore hosting since the economy is based on the US dollar, and Panama does not assess tax on income from foreign sources. The Internet connectivity of your selected provider and host country is another very important consideration. Fortunately Panama is very well connected via several submarine fiber-optic networks giving web hosting providers residing in the Panama the most reliable Internet access in the region.

If privacy is a concern of yours then an offshore web hosting plan can offer unique advantages. In the US, know-your-customer provisions of the Patriot act have many implications for businesses that operate in the US. But with an offshore presence privacy for you and those you do business with can be better protected in privacy-friendly jurisdictions such as Switzerland. There are many perfectly legitimate reasons for privacy protection, in fact the financial privacy laws of nations like Switzerland demand very high standards for maintaining customer privacy.

A web hosting plan in Costa Rica would be an excellent choice for serving adult content for gambling sites as the laws of this country are very permissive for these types of business. However, you should be aware that Costa Rica is very prone to being hit by hurricanes, so the provider you select should be very well equipped to operate under these harsh conditions. You may also want to select a web hosting plan at an alternate site to use as a backup if extreme conditions result in a service outage.

With careful selection of your offshore web hosting plan just about any particular need can be accommodated. If you need a permissive jurisdiction for gambling or adult content, or if you need privacy for political or financial reasons, there is a web hosting plan for you.