Namecheap Explained

Namecheap, Inc.
Company Type:Private
Location City:Phoenix, Arizona
Location Country:United States
Area Served:Worldwide
Ceo:Richard Kirkendall
Key People:Richard Kirkendall (CEO)
Hillan Klein (COO)
Sergii Smirnov (CTO)
Industry:Web service
Services:Domain Name Registration, Web Hosting, VPN

Namecheap is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar[1] and web hosting company, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The company was founded in 2000 by Richard Kirkendall[2] and has since grown to become one of the largest independent domain registrars in the world, with over 10 million customers and over 17 million domains under management.[3] [4]

Namecheap offers domain name services, including domain registration, transfer, and renewal, as well as domain privacy protection and other value-added services. In addition, Namecheap also offers shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers.

Namecheap has been accepting Bitcoin as a payment method since March 2013.[5]

On 15 February 2023, Delhi High Court ordered Indian IT Ministry to block Namecheap and other domain registrars over cybersquatting and non-compliance with India's IT Rules, 2021.[6] [7] [8]

Advocacy

ICANN price caps decision

In July 2019, Namecheap was one of the organizations that filed a reconsideration request to ICANN asking for a review of the decision to remove price caps on .org and .info TLDs.[9] [10] As of September 2019, ICANN has ignored such requests.[11]

Termination of service to Russian accounts

In February 2022, Namecheap announced that they would terminate services to Russian accounts due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, citing "war crimes and human rights violations". Existing users were given a one-week grace period to move their domains.[12] The next day, the deadline was extended by another 2 weeks. If users did not move their domains, their websites became inaccessible, even if the domain registration period had not yet passed. The company also announced that it would be offering free anonymous domain registration and web hosting to all protest and anti-war websites in Russia or Belarus.[13] Namecheap at the same time said it had over 1,000 employees located in Ukraine, comprising most of its support staff, mostly in Kharkiv (which was a major location of fighting).[14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2017-04-23 . InterNIC - Registrar List . 2017-04-23 . InterNIC.
  2. Web site: Spadafora . Anthony . October 2, 2019 . Namecheap Review . October 28, 2019 . Tom’s Guide.
  3. Web site: March 2, 2022 . Hosting Provider Namecheap to Stop Services for Russians Domains . March 3, 2022 . Cyber Security News.
  4. Web site: Spadafora . Anthony . October 2, 2019 . Namecheap Review . October 28, 2019 . Tom’s Guide.
  5. Bustillos . Maria . April 1, 2013 . The Bitcoin Boom . October 8, 2019 . The New Yorker.
  6. Web site: Thapliyal . Nupur . 2023-02-15 . Take Action Against Domain Name Registrars For Not Complying With IT Rules: Delhi High Court To IT Ministry . 2023-03-15 . www.livelaw.in . en.
  7. Web site: Mathi . Sarvesh . 2023-03-14 . Why Namecheap and four other domain registrars are blocked in India . 2023-03-15 . MediaNama . en-US.
  8. Web site: Allemann . Andrew . 2023-03-12 . Indian ISPs block access to major domain registrars . 2023-03-15 . Domain Name Wire Domain Name News . en-US.
  9. Web site: Dot-org price-cap scrap latest: Now ICANN accused of snubbing registrars with 'sham' public comment process. McCarthy. Kieren. The Register. July 29, 2019. October 8, 2019.
  10. Web site: How the battle over domain prices could drastically change the web. Binder. Matt. Mashable. August 9, 2019. October 8, 2019.
  11. Web site: What Is the Purpose of ICANN's Comment Periods?. Karanicolas. Michael. September 14, 2019. October 8, 2019.
  12. News: Bode . Karl . February 28, 2022 . Namecheap Tells Russian Customers to Find Another Registrar Due to Russia's 'War Crimes' . . February 28, 2022.
  13. Web site: Namecheap offers free web hosting and domain registration to Russian anti-war websites. Tech Radar. March 2, 2022. Abigail Opiah . March 3, 2022.
  14. News: Murphy . Kevin . March 1, 2022 . Namecheap boss goes nuclear on Russian customers . Domain Incite . August 26, 2022.

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