DMCA-resistant hosting
Answer
DMCA-resistant hosting means the server sits in a jurisdiction where the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act has no direct legal effect. None of Incognito VPS’s eight jurisdictions is bound by it. Local copyright law still applies everywhere, and our acceptable-use policy prohibits infringing content regardless of jurisdiction.
What the DMCA actually is
The DMCA is a United States statute. Its §512 safe harbour gives US service providers immunity from copyright liability if they remove material on receipt of a compliant notice. It is a domestic law with domestic effect: it does not create obligations for a company in Reykjavík or Chișinău, and a notice sent to one has the legal weight of a strongly worded letter.
This is why the phrase "DMCA ignored" circulates in offshore hosting. It is technically accurate and rhetorically misleading, because it implies a general immunity from copyright law that does not exist anywhere.
What still applies
Every jurisdiction we operate in has its own copyright law. Iceland, Switzerland, Panama, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Russia all provide remedies to rights-holders through their own courts. The difference is procedural, not substantive: instead of an automated notice that triggers removal within hours, a claimant must bring a claim in the local jurisdiction, in the local language, under local rules.
Our acceptable-use policy prohibits distributing content you do not have the right to distribute. We enforce that policy. What we do not do is action unverified automated notices from third-party enforcement agencies that have no legal standing where our servers are.
How we handle notices in practice
Every notice we receive at [email protected] is read by a person. Notices that identify a specific work, a specific URL, and a claimant with standing under the law of the jurisdiction the server is in are forwarded to the customer with a response window. Notices that are automated volume filings referencing US statute at a non-US server receive a reply pointing at the applicable jurisdiction.
We publish counts of both categories in our quarterly transparency report, along with how many resulted in customer action and how many resulted in suspension.
Frequently asked questions
01 Do you ignore DMCA notices?
We read every notice. The DMCA itself has no legal force at our locations, so we do not action it as a statutory obligation. Notices identifying a real infringement under applicable local law are forwarded to the customer and enforced under our AUP.
02 Can I host copyrighted material I do not own?
No. Our acceptable-use policy prohibits it in all eight jurisdictions and we enforce it. Jurisdiction changes which court hears a claim; it does not make infringement lawful.
03 Which location is most resistant to copyright claims?
Moldova and Russia have no bilateral copyright-enforcement treaty with the United States and no EU judicial-cooperation obligations. Both location pages set out the applicable statutes and the trade-offs in full.
04 Will you tell me if you receive a notice about my server?
Yes, unless a valid legal order in that jurisdiction prohibits it. You get the full notice text and a response window before any action is taken.
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