international jurisdiction internet
What jurisdiction does an IP address fall under?
<p><strong>What is an IP Address?</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label
  assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a
  computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.
  An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network
  interface identification and location addressing.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Who manages IP Addresses?</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (<strong>IANA</strong>) is a department of
  <strong>ICANN</strong>, a nonprofit private American corporation that oversees global
  IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone
  management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other
  Internet Protocol-related symbols and numbers.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>What is a Regional Internet Registries?</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Regional Internet Registries are components of the Internet Number
  Registry System, which is described in IETF RFC 7020. The Internet
  Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) delegates Internet resources to the
  RIRs who, in turn, follow their regional policies to delegate
  resources to their customers, which include Internet service providers
  and end-user organizations. Collectively, the RIRs participate in the
  Number Resource Organization (NRO), formed as a body to represent
  their collective interests, undertake joint activities, and coordinate
  their activities globally. The NRO has entered into an agreement with
  ICANN for the establishment of the Address Supporting Organisation
  (ASO), which undertakes coordination of global IP addressing
  policies within the ICANN framework.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So IANA is a department of ICANN. On October 1, 2009 the U.S. Department of Commerce gave up its control of ICANN. In 2013, the NSA spying scandal has led to ICANN endorsing the Montevideo Statement.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The <strong>Montevideo Statement on the Future of Internet Cooperation</strong> was
  released on 7 October 2013 by the leaders of a number of organizations
  involved in coordinating the Internet's global technical
  infrastructure. The statement was signed by the heads of the Internet
  Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet
  Engineering Task Force, the Internet Architecture Board, the World
  Wide Web Consortium, the Internet Society, and the five regional
  Internet address registries (African Network Information Center,
  American Registry for Internet Numbers, Asia-Pacific Network
  Information Centre, Latin America and Caribbean Internet Addresses
  Registry, and Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre). In
  large part, the statement is seen as a response to the ongoing NSA
  surveillance scandal. The leaders made four main points:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>They reinforced the importance of globally coherent Internet operations, and warned against Internet fragmentation at a national
  level. They expressed strong concern over the undermining of the trust
  and confidence of Internet users globally due to recent revelations of
  pervasive monitoring and surveillance.</li>
  <li>They identified the need for ongoing effort to address Internet Governance challenges, and agreed to catalyze community-wide efforts
  towards the evolution of global multistakeholder Internet cooperation.</li>
  <li>They called for accelerating the globalization of ICANN and IANA functions, towards an environment in which all stakeholders, including
  all governments, participate on an equal footing.</li>
  <li>They also called for the transition to IPv6 to remain a top priority globally. In particular Internet content providers must serve
  content with both IPv4 and IPv6 services, in order to be fully
  reachable on the global Internet.</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>What jurisdiction does an IP Address fall under if a crime is committed using it?</p>

<p>EXAMPLE: Lets say that someone hosts a website similar to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29">The Silk Road</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand">Principality of Sealand</a>. They use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29">TOR</a> so they have obfuscated their location online and do not use any common TLD. What country would have jurisdiction to try and shut down the site? What if the location of the server hosting the website is in the cloud, similar to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay">The Pirate Bay</a>?</p>

<p>I'm not sure it makes sense to talk about having "jurisdiction" over an IP address, for the purposes you're discussing. </p>

<p>If you wanted to sue the IP address itself--something that is possible under limited circumstances--then you might need to locate it for jurisdictional purposes. But I don't think that's what you're talking about. You're talking about taking civil or criminal action against the people who are using the IP address to commit crimes.</p>

<p>What matters, in that case, is not a theoretical legal question about the location of an IP address. It's questions like: where do these people live? Where do the people downloading the illegal content live? Where are the physical servers located? ("In the cloud" is not an answer--there are physical servers somewhere making up that cloud).</p>

<p>For jurisdictional purposes, the chair they're sitting in when they upload the illegal data, and the location of the AC power outlet the physical server is plugged into, are as important as, if not more important than, the metaphysical "location" of the IP address of the server.</p>
