Namecheap
 | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | , |
| 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 |
| URL | namecheap |
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 77 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[edit]
ICANN price caps decision[edit]
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[edit]
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 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]
References[edit]
- ^ "InterNIC - Registrar List". InterNIC. 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
- ^ Spadafora, Anthony (October 2, 2019). "Namecheap Review". Tom’s Guide. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ^ "Hosting Provider Namecheap to Stop Services for Russians Domains". Cyber Security News. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Spadafora, Anthony (October 2, 2019). "Namecheap Review". Tom’s Guide. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
- ^ Bustillos, Maria (April 1, 2013). "The Bitcoin Boom". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Thapliyal, Nupur (2023-02-15). "Take Action Against Domain Name Registrars For Not Complying With IT Rules: Delhi High Court To IT Ministry". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ Mathi, Sarvesh (2023-03-14). "Why Namecheap and four other domain registrars are blocked in India". MediaNama. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ Allemann, Andrew (2023-03-12). "Indian ISPs block access to major domain registrars". Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ McCarthy, Kieren (July 29, 2019). "Dot-org price-cap scrap latest: Now ICANN accused of snubbing registrars with 'sham' public comment process". The Register. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Binder, Matt (August 9, 2019). "How the battle over domain prices could drastically change the web". Mashable. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Karanicolas, Michael (September 14, 2019). "What Is the Purpose of ICANN's Comment Periods?". Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Bode, Karl (February 28, 2022). "Namecheap Tells Russian Customers to Find Another Registrar Due to Russia's 'War Crimes'". Vice.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
- ^ Abigail Opiah (March 2, 2022). "Namecheap offers free web hosting and domain registration to Russian anti-war websites". Tech Radar. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Murphy, Kevin (March 1, 2022). "Namecheap boss goes nuclear on Russian customers". Domain Incite. Retrieved August 26, 2022.