Anonymous Windows Hosting

[UKJASE]

Can anyone recommend a good, relatively cheap, anonymous host, where i can run a small ASP site?

I am not doing anything shady, but for complicated reasons, i need the host to be able to protect my details for me.....

I looked at CCIhosting in panama, but their reviews were not great

[Darrel]

You aren't very clear but it seems as though you are talking about the WHOIS details. These are part of the domain registration and have nothing to do with the hosting.

Most registrars offer WHOIS masking of .com domains for a fee, or indeed often for free in Europe. It is only masking though, and your details will be released to anyone with the correct court order.

The only information about hosting that is available to anyone is the IP address, and of course without that there is no hosting anyway so there's not much point hiding it.

Or maybe you are thinking about something else entirely?

[UKJASE]

You aren't very clear but it seems as though you are talking about the WHOIS details. These are part of the domain registration and have nothing to do with the hosting.

Most registrars offer WHOIS masking of .com domains for a fee, or indeed often for free in Europe. It is only masking though, and your details will be released to anyone with the correct court order.

The only information about hosting that is available to anyone is the IP address, and of course without that there is no hosting anyway so there's not much point hiding it.

Or maybe you are thinking about something else entirely?

the domain is already protected by privacy.....

what i want is a server to host my site...... a host that will protect my details if anyone was to go snooping

i also want the host to be situated somewhere that would not affect my search engine rankings for the site, and have no lag on serving the pages.... i have found a few options, but they are all offering Linux, not Windows

[Darrel]

..... a host that will protect my details if anyone was to go snooping

I still dont understand what you want to keep private and who you think might be after your details.

"Snooping" wont get anyone any useful information. A court order will. Hacking into the hoster's billing records might also, but those will not be connected to the actual server. And just because a server is in the Caymans or Panama or anywhere else wont make it any more or less susceptible to being hacked.

So presumably you are looking for protection from some government entity?

[NanLaew]

Just accept that the tax man does need your money regardless of where you live or where your "business" is; on earth or in cyberspace.

[matt111]

A web hosting company should not release your contact details unless required to by the governing court.

As we have seen recently though governments are co-operating more and more for example MegaUpload (file sharing) case was started in US but arrests were made in NZ, and servers were seized in both the US and in Netherlands.

You mention you found a host in Panama, be wary many small web hosting companies are run by numpties - i.e. rent a dedicated server, install cpanel/plesk/ensim, do a package manager update and jobs done - so if you were targeted for example by anonymous group, or a determined hacker, it would be a walk in park to extract your details (or at least your most recent activity), and if they target the billing software equal disaster.

If SEO then search engines will look (amoungst many other factors) at time to load and time to first byte, an overcrowded server in Panama with variable international latency is not a good idea. Find a US or EU host with a long term record that is competently run and use them. If they receive a court order then details released, cant really avoid that.

What makes you think you would be a target anyway?

[JSixpack]

Oooooh, we're just dying with curiosity around here.

[Phil Conners]

Just accept that the tax man does need your money regardless of where you live or where your "business" is; on earth or in cyberspace.

I think that is only the case for USA citizens.

You mention you found a host in Panama, be wary many small web hosting companies are run by numpties - i.e. rent a dedicated server, install cpanel/plesk/ensim, do a package manager update and jobs done - so if you were targeted for example by anonymous group, or a determined hacker, it would be a walk in park to extract your details (or at least your most recent activity), and if they target the billing software equal disaster.

Many "hosting companies" don't even go that far. They buy a cheap hosting template and a reseller account somewhere and voila, they're in business.

[UKJASE]

..... a host that will protect my details if anyone was to go snooping

I still dont understand what you want to keep private and who you think might be after your details.

"Snooping" wont get anyone any useful information. A court order will. Hacking into the hoster's billing records might also, but those will not be connected to the actual server. And just because a server is in the Caymans or Panama or anywhere else wont make it any more or less susceptible to being hacked.

So presumably you are looking for protection from some government entity?

yea, i am worried that my venture will be deemed by some as breaching some copyright issues..... i know that it is not, as i have sought legal advice, but i would not like to be summonsed to court to have to defend myself, as that in itself would be expensive / stressful / time consuming

so i need a hosting country & company, that an enforcement agency may look at, and think "lets no even bother trying to get the details on this website, as we know this hosting company will not play ball, and the government of this country will not be interested in our requirement for information"

i am thinking panama, belize, china, hong kong etc.....

anyone have any experience of this sort of situation, or more specifically, could recommend a company?

[Phil Conners]

Well it doesn't stop by the hosting company. It's a non-issue to have an injunction to have the registrar reveal the ownership of a privacy listed domain name. Even if you don't register it in your real name they will follow the money trail, i.e. you must have paid for it somehow. Also, presumably you will want payment for the products you're selling online, so it is possible to go to your payment gateways and get info from there.

Anyway, with this we are now in an area that is off-limits, so I'm afraid we'll have to close the topic here.

16) Not to post about gambling, betting, pornography, illegal drugs, fake goods/clothing etc and other activities that are officially illegal in Thailand.