Is CF allowed to do this?

This is something I've been wondering for a while, and it's only tangentially related to your question, but do you think people have the idea that physical distance somehow determines the ping instead of the physical path the signal has to traverse? Like the people who think a Hawaii server would be useful for Australians, when the signal most likely would go to the continental U.S. before going to the island.
The reason I ask is because it is possible that U.S. South isn't that much different for Brazilian players as any other server, such as U.S. West. We do have a few Brazilian players who are members here, so perhaps one of them could let us know if there is enough of a difference to matter.