"Stan Gosnell" wrote in message
...

Certainly it is. I get it all the time, on almost every flight. Radar,
and in fact radio communications, doesn't extend to most of my
destinations. And there are hundreds, often thousands, of flights
daily in the Gulf of Mexico, many of them IFR. I commonly get
'direct'.


Your clearance and separation apply only to those portions within controlled
airspace.

http://www.faa.gov/atpubs/ATC/Chp4/atc0401.html