Quote Originally Posted by marcjacob View Post
Does any of this 2257 crap apply to me as im outside the usa? i do try to obey all usa laws that apply to the biz but im wondering if some legal advise is due.
The position of the DOJ is that 2257 applies to you if you do business in the United States. However, the DOJ does not have authority to go into your place of business outside the United States to inspect your records. If you are accused of a crime, such as distributing child pornography, then using proper channels and the authority of treaties the local authorities could go to your place of business and search. This does first require some articulable suspicion and evidence of a crime -- just wanting to check your records for compliance is not significant enough for you to be subject to a search. So, yes, in my opinion 2257 does apply to you but without some evidence of a crime being committed US authorities cannot come to your business outside the US or its territories just to inspect your records.

If you recall one of the executives of an online sports betting company [a company big enough that its shares are publicly traded in London] was just arrested in the United States, even though the company's only real connection to the US was accepting bets from US citizens. Being offshore does not completely insulate anyone from the reach of US law.