Freedom of Speech Amendment

How Orange Website Policies Promote Your Right to Publish Anything.

You may not be located in the U.S., but you know that nation has a freedom of speech amendment that protects individuals from being able to talk or publish on any topic — even controversial religious, political or sexual subjects. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution sets an ideal for the world in protecting your right to say what you think.

At the same time, under certain circumstances, even courts in the U.S. can require internet service providers or web hosting service providers to release data about their customers. One example is in cases where copyright may have been violated. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), companies who claim copyright violations can ask an internet service provider to remove websites that may contain copyrighted materials and can sue for information on the person who posted it. The problem with a DMCA Takedown request is that the requesting party may not even need to prove the copyright violation and it can be used to silence or remove controversial material. In some cases, the material in question was covered under fair use guidelines or was not even owned by the requester.

Outside the U.S., other nations may place tight restrictions on what you can say, even online. In March, an city civil court in India ruled that a news website had to remove two articles that criticized a local politician. Last year, news websites in Ecuador were told by the government to remove stories and images, and some sites suffered suspicious Denial-of-Service attacks that shut down their sites after publishing stories about potential corruption.

No matter where you’re located in the world, you want a truly free web hosting company that will completely protect your right to publish without harassment, censorship or legal threats. That’s where OrangeWebsite hosting comes in. We’re based in Iceland, where freedom of expression is protected by the constitution. In the global community, Iceland’s legislature is known for strongly advocating freedom of speech and a free press. Bloggers and journalists have the freedom to publish virtually anything without fear of being uncovered or legally prosecuted.

Freedom of Speech Amendment

OrangeWebsite can’t protect you from legal prosecution in your country, but we can ensure that your website that reports on the government won’t be taken down on the whim of an angry politician. We also do not respond to DMCA Takedown requests; any legal action to censor your website must be filed in Icelandic court and approved by an Icelandic judge. Because of our very lenient laws, this is rare.

Security and privacy matters. We don’t release your information to others and we don’t allow you to be censored, even if your published material is controversial. We do require that you follow our terms of service and the very liberal Icelandic laws to be our customer, but we think you’ll find there’s no better home for your site, no matter what you’re saying.

Want to know more about why we’re the best fit for you? Here’s a quick rundown:

• We’re located in a convenient geographical location. Because we’re halfway between North America and the European continent, we can offer blazing fast connection speeds to customers in either location. (At last measure, you could connect from Europe in 29 ms and the U.S. in 39 ms — pretty speedy.) That means your site will load quickly and perform well for visitors from either location, and for that matter, around the world.
• You don’t have to provide personal data. Well, we do need an email address so we can contact you, but we don’t ask for any other details. We’ve found we can provide excellent service to our customers without needing to know names, addresses or other contact information. While we take every possible step to protect our servers, we also know you’ll be happy that hackers can’t ever access your personal data — because it’s not there to take.
• We don’t reveal any of your information. We don’t have to legally make any customer details available to the Icelandic government — or any other government or organization in the world. Even though we don’t store your details, we don’t have to give up even the little we do have to anyone who asks. Your identity is protected with us.
• We accept BitCoin. BitCoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. You can use BitCoin to pay your invoices without sharing any personal details. Plus, there are no transaction fees for using BitCoin. We use the current exchange rate between euros and BitCoin.
• We’ll keep your website safe from attack. Attackers have increased as their methods have become more sophisticated and widely shared. If you’re running a controversial website, it may be more likely to be targeted by folks who don’t like you or consider themselves your competition. We’re one of the few companies in the world to offer high-end DDoS protection methods, including against Layer 7 (application layer) attacks. You pay for the level of protection you need.
• We require two-factor authentication. Another way to protect against your information being stolen or used, or your website being taken down, is to require two-factor authentication. Each time you log in, your phone gets an automatic text message with a code that you use for access. Use any number capable of receiving SMS data — it doesn’t have to be connected to your name in any way. Two-factor authentication virtually guarantees that even if your password gets cracked, an intruder can’t get into your website files.
• We’re proactive against all types of security threats. Our team includes server security specialists and “ethical hackers” who are constantly checking our systems for issues. We also keep our software updated with the latest security patches and perform regular audits to ensure there are no easy ways to access our servers. Every connection to our servers goes through a 256-bit SSL layer just to make absolutely certain your information isn’t getting viewed or captured by an outside source.

Freedom of Speech Amendment:

Picture of the Bill of Rights First Amendment.

What’s more, we are there for you, no matter where you’re located. Our 24-hour response team is available to help if you run across any issues with your service, and an authorized staff member is always keeping an eye on our security. Our professional support staff can customize solutions for you if you need specialized assistance.

You may also be pleased to know that we do all this with a focus on sustainability. While it doesn’t impact your ability to remain private, you should know our servers run on 100 percent green energy. Iceland is home to many options for renewable resources and we take full advantage of these to power our servers and reduce pollution from traditional energy sources.

Do you have more questions about Freedom of Speech Amendment and how we can maintain your privacy and security as a publisher, blogger or journalist, no matter where in the world you’re physically located? We’d be happy to talk to you and set up a custom plan that meets your needs. Contact us for information about our security or our server plans.