# All of the internet in one country or another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767 "2007-09-28T02:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/1 "2007-09-28T02:52:32Z")
Is there anywhere on the Internet that is outside the jurisdiction of a country? (The things I think of in the shower…) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/2 "2007-09-28T03:18:08Z")
I assume you mean servers and nodes. I can’t think of any. The pipes themselves go through international waters and the like, but I don’t know of any servers that aren’t actually in a country. There are the satellites used for satellite internet access. Of course, those don’t contain any information, just carry it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/3 "2007-09-28T03:20:27Z")
Doubtful. I’m not sure if there’s any land on the planet that isn’t under some country’s jurisdiction (perhaps Antarctica), but even so anyplace with a telephone infrastructure certainly is within a country and thus falls into its jurisdiction. Of course that doesn’t mean that every country actually cares or is otherwise capable of monitoring anything. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/4 "2007-09-28T03:25:30Z")
Actually, if you set up a satelite link server on a boat in the middle of the ocean…perhaps. But the internet speeds from the middle of the ocean is really sucky and is priced ludicrously. Someone might hop onto cellular from just inside international waters, which would be better, but it wouldn’t be terribly stable and the land-based carrier could block you. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/5 "2007-09-28T13:32:26Z")
Well, there is internet access on [Sealand](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand), but that’s really kind of a special case — and they claim to be a country of their own, anyhow. I’m not sure if [HavenCo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HavenCo) is actually still operating after the fire they had on board in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-internet-in-one-country-or-another/420767/6 "2007-09-28T13:41:28Z")
The closest I can think of is [HavenCo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HavenCo) on Sealand. While Sealand thinks of itself as an official country, no one else does. So maybe it is under the jurisdiction of the UK, Sealand or nothing. Based on the article, it doesn’t actually seem to be a going concern, but presumably Sealand does have some Internet connectivity.