The offshore-hosting glossary.

Account creation that requires only a pseudonymous identifier (a chosen pseudonym; email optional) without legal name, ID, or phone number.

Network routing technique where many physical servers share the same IP — traffic routes to the topologically nearest one.

Cryptographic exchange of one cryptocurrency for another between two parties without a centralized exchange.

The protocol that announces network reachability between autonomous systems — the routing fabric of the internet.

First and most-adopted cryptocurrency — pseudonymous public-ledger value transfer launched 2009.

Open-source self-hosted crypto payment processor — replaces Coinbase Commerce / NowPayments without a third-party in the loop.

Industry slang historically describing hosts willing to accept content other operators won't — including illegal material in some cases.

U.S. state-level privacy law (2020, since amended by CPRA 2023) granting California residents rights similar to GDPR.

When the threat of legal action — even unsuccessful action — discourages legitimate speech or conduct.

Renting rack space and bandwidth in a datacenter to host hardware the customer owns and ships in.

A formal response by the alleged infringer asserting that the takedown notice was filed in error or content is non-infringing.

A binding judicial decision requiring a party to do or refrain from something — including content takedown or data disclosure.

The geographic location where data is physically stored and processed — distinct from where the operator is incorporated.

Mandatory or chosen period for which data is kept before being deleted; varies by jurisdiction and legal framework.

An attack where many sources flood a target with traffic to exhaust resources and deny service to legitimate users.

Physical hardware exclusively rented to one customer — no virtualisation, no shared tenants, full hardware control.

1998 U.S. law (Title 17 §512) that creates a notice-and-takedown framework for online copyright infringement.

Hosting located in jurisdictions where U.S. DMCA process has no legal force; substantive complaints are evaluated under local law instead.

Publishing someone's real-world identity, address, or contact information without their consent — typically with hostile intent.

EU regulation (2022) governing how online platforms handle illegal content, takedown notices, and user accountability — the EU's analogue to the DMCA.

EU privacy regulation (2018) granting data subjects rights over their personal data and imposing strict obligations on data controllers.

Software layer that creates and manages virtual machines, abstracting underlying hardware from guest OSes.

The original internet protocol — 32-bit addresses, exhausted regional pools, currently rationed via secondary markets.

The successor to IPv4 — 128-bit addresses providing virtually unlimited address space.

The practice of incorporating, hosting, or routing through a specific jurisdiction to take advantage of its legal framework.

Linux-kernel virtualisation technology providing full hardware virtualisation — distinct from container-based isolation.

Brazil's privacy law (effective 2020) — close to GDPR with adaptations for the Brazilian legal context.

Bitcoin layer-2 protocol enabling instant, cheap, off-chain BTC payments — settled to mainchain in batches.

Bilateral or multilateral treaty enabling law enforcement in one country to formally request evidence or assistance from another.

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency with mandatory transaction-level privacy via ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential amounts.

Service operates without Know-Your-Customer identity verification — no government ID, no proof of address, no phone verification.

A host's stated policy of not retaining records of customer activity beyond what's strictly required for billing and abuse handling.

Wallet or service where the user holds the private keys — no third-party can move the funds.

Modern SSD interface protocol — much faster than SATA SSDs because it talks directly to the PCIe bus.

Hosting infrastructure located outside the customer's home country, typically in jurisdictions chosen for legal-climate reasons.

Routing scheme where traffic is wrapped in multiple layers of encryption — each hop peels one layer.

The practice of protecting sensitive information by analyzing what an adversary could learn from observable signals.

Peer-to-peer marketplace for swapping crypto for fiat (or other crypto) directly between users — no centralized custodian.

China's privacy regulation (2021) — a GDPR-style law with stricter cross-border data-transfer rules.

Government action that suppresses speech BEFORE publication, considered the most severe form of censorship under U.S. First Amendment doctrine.

Designing systems so that the default configuration maximally protects user privacy — opt-out, not opt-in, for invasive features.

Operating under a consistent identifier (handle, email, wallet address) that doesn't tie back to a real-world legal identity.

Storage virtualisation that combines multiple disks for redundancy, performance, or both.

Microsoft's protocol for remote graphical access to Windows desktops — the Windows equivalent of SSH.

A hosting account designed to be subdivided and resold to end customers — typically with WHM or similar control panel.

Statutory protection insulating online intermediaries from copyright liability if they comply with notice-and-takedown procedures.

Multiple customer websites sharing a single server — managed control panel, lowest price point, no root access.

Cryptographic protocol for secure remote login to Linux servers — the standard way customers access their VPS.

Cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a reference asset — usually USD.

A unique single-use Monero address derived from a master view/spend key — each invoice gets its own.

Court-issued order compelling a party to produce documents or testify in a legal proceeding.

An analysis of who might attack a system, what capabilities they have, and what assets they're after.

Onion-routing network providing anonymous internet access through multi-hop encrypted relays.

A volunteer-operated node in the Tor network — comes in three flavours: guard, middle, exit.

Encrypted tunnel from the user's device to a remote server, hiding the user's IP from the wider internet.

A virtualised slice of a physical server — full root access, dedicated resources, isolated from other tenants.

Public registry of domain-name ownership records — historically required to expose registrant name, email, address, phone.

Registrar service that substitutes the registrar's contact info for the registrant's in public WHOIS records.

U.S. record-keeping law for producers of sexually explicit visual content — typically applies to adult content created in the U.S.