Namecheap has notified clients registered in Russia that it will no longer supply services due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company has advised Russian consumers to transfer their top-level domains to other providers by March 6 and offered to assist those who reached out for assistance.
Now, the company seems to be reducing this number by no longer serving Russians due to the war with Ukraine. Namecheap has openly asked people from Russia to transfer them to another provider.
Namecheap had the following to say in a written email:
Unfortunately, due to the Russian regime’s war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine, we will no longer be providing services to users registered in Russia. While we sympathize that this war may not affect your own views or opinion on the matter, the fact is, your authoritarian government is committing human rights abuses and engaging in war crimes, so this is a policy decision we have made and will stand by. If you hold any top-level domains with us, we ask that you transfer them to another provider by March 6, 2022. Additionally, and with immediate effect, you will no longer be able to use Namecheap Hosting, EasyWP, and Private Email with a domain provided by another registrar in zones .ru, .xn--p1ai (рф), .by, .xn--90ais (бел), and .su.
The company also added:
All websites will resolve to 403 Forbidden; however, you can contact us to assist you with your transfer to another provider.
Namecheap is banning Russians, asks them to switch registrars https://t.co/6Nx6jrMrEL
— socialhax (@socialhax) March 1, 2022
Namecheap’s CEO also advised Russians upset by the company’s decision that they have many other providers from whom to obtain the same services.
Richard Kirkendall, who serves the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Namecheap, had the following to say:
We haven’t blocked the domains; we are asking people to move. There are plenty of other choices out there when it comes to infrastructure services, so this isn’t ‘de-platforming.’ People that are getting angry need to the point that at the cause, their own government. If more grace time is necessary for some to move, we will provide it.
