Hi, I have a idea for a site that is illegal here in the states. But I was going to have someone else host it over in Egypt and they'll be running it from over there. Only connection between me and the person running the site will be emails and paypal for me to send them a gift as payment for their work. Am I safe doing it this way or do I need to take other precautions? Thanks
I am sure there wont be any legal issues for the person running the site on your behalf from Egypt as long as it is not ilegal there. But if the authorities find a link between him and you then it could cause issues for you. I don't think anything is worth the risk of breaking the law.
In the U.S. you should check out the Safe Web Act passed in 2006 which provided the FTC with new powers to cooperate with foreign law enforcement agencies. If what you are doing comes under FTC scrutiny, they can come after you. Summary of the US SAFE WEB Act (http://www.ftc.gov/reports/ussafeweb/Summary of US SAFE WEB Act.pdf) Background: The Internet and electronic commerce know no boundaries, and cross-border fraud and deception is a growing problem for consumers and businesses in the U.S. and abroad. The US SAFE WEB Act provisions are needed to help the FTC to protect consumers from cross-border fraud and deception, and particularly to fight spam, spyware, and Internet fraud and deception.