We say NO to #SOPA (our official stance)
Since the news broke today that one of our competitors wholeheartedly supports the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), many of you have asked us about our position on the matter.
Let us be clear: Namecheap is not in favor of SOPA as it has been proposed.
Why are we against the proposed SOPA legislation? It’s very simple; at Namecheap, we believe in internet freedom.
When you register a domain name, you can do anything you wish with it within the confines of the law. That is the essence of the Internet; the ability for anyone anywhere to make a meaningful contribution to the commons, and to have that contribution recognized. We’re proud to be a very small part of the wonderful things that our users have created online.
SOPA, as proposed, would give unprecedented remedies to owners of intellectual property. While protection of the intellectual property is important, to allow overbroad and ill-considered remedies and processes such as those contained within SOPA threatens the very freedom that serves as the foundation of the Internet.
If SOPA passes in its current form, the rights of users (who are the Internet) will be wholly and totally subjugated to the rights of intellectual property holders. This simply cannot stand.
We applaud those who oppose SOPA and are proud to join their ranks.
Our CEO, Richard Kirkendall, has also made the following statement:
While we at Namecheap firmly believe in intellectual rights, SOPA is like detonating a nuclear bomb on the internet when only a surgical strike is necessary. This legislation has the potential to harm the way everyone uses the Internet and to undermine the system itself. At Namecheap, we believe having a free and open Internet is the only option that will continue the legacy of innovation and openess that stands for everything we all value in our modern society.
that’s what we like to hear!
We are also don’t agree with SOPA, like Namecheap states Internet; the ability for anyone anywhere to make a meaningful contribution to the commons, and to have that contribution recognized
Thank you for your opinion and your self-adding to the list of companies that do NOT support SOPA.
Personally, I feel that SOPA is a bill that should never be passed. The day I saw the website that asked everybody to stop SOPA was the day I got a big shock when I knew what was happening.
Assuming that all websites get censored, people from all over the world would be suffering. Maybe people’ll say it’s a good break, but many of these people solely rely on PPP, PPC and GPT sites for their income. Yes, they could get a real job, but what if they weren’t old enough? If their parents disallowed? There are some many points that are unable to be all read out.
I am not an American citizen (in fact, my country’s high and far away from America), and yet I am against it myself. Why are there people hesitating? Honestly? It’s ironic how the Americans created the web and now wants to censor it.
Don’t support SOPA.
Very well said!
I’m also proud to be one of the many people that are against SOPA.
I just don’t like that it makes webmasters accountable for user-posted content.
In fact, I don’t like ANY of the bill. If you can still access a site by IP, anyone who cares about their piracy will know that IPs with a ping.
if only you guys also stopped legitscript suspensiosn who are same medical industries as behind sopa you would have even more lcients.
yet good call
I’m glad, this is one of the last places that the government cannot fully control. It’s time they step down from their pedestal and realize they are just like us and cannot dictate our lives.
Kudos to Namecheap! We need more patriot businesses to stand up to a repressive administration whose actions only serve to undermine the sacred Foundations of Liberty.
That’s why I love namecheap! I’m against SOPA too! More power to namecheap.
We wholeheartedly support your efforts and have just switched our domain over to namecheap. We’d be happy to grok any data you gather from this transition over at Data Dodo.
I wish more were like you. I realize we need to protect IP but this isn’t the way.
I am proud to have Namecheap as my domain register. Time to push my colleagues in your direction as well.
Hope you guys are ready to help me out move my domains over from GoDaddy to you guys!
Fight the good fight, Namecheap. The Internet is the best invention since the printing press, allowing anyone with a voice to speak to an audience in the thousands or millions just for the tiny costs of hosting. SOPA would destroy Internet commentary on virtually every topic, and passing that bill for the sake of reducing piracy would be almost as ridiculous as passing a bill to stop protecting free speech for the sake of reducing fraud. Of course, people will try to find workarounds even if it does get passed (there’s already a DeSopa Firefox add-on being made), but if this precedent gets set then there’s always the possibility that the entire infrastructure of the Internet will be changed (ruined).
Anyway, the “competitor” you mentioned was already a sad joke for many reasons, but I hope that their new support of SOPA really opens people’s eyes to rid themselves of bad company that doesn’t care about free speech and take their business to a respectable registrar like you. I’ll stick with you guys at Namecheap for as long as the government allows the Internet to keep existing, myself.
Do you have a tool that allows me to mass export my GoDaddy domains to Namecheap?
Matt, we don’t have a tool, but we do have this tutorial: https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/876/83/how-to-transfer-a-domain-from-godaddy
You have a new customer because of this! A certain GoDaddy can go and bugger off
Currently a GoDaddy customer. I’ve been with them through thick and thin, but this is the final straw. I’m taking a “wait-and-hope-they-come-to-their-senses” approach, but they seem to be doubling down on their misguided and arrogant stance. I’m out before the new year.
I think we all believe in protecting IP and such, but this thing (SOPA) is not the answer.
One question for you Namecheap. It’s fine to put out offers and gain customers while everyone boycotts GoDaddy, but at the end of the day, if SOPA passes you have to comply with the law… no matter how much you disagree. So, what are you doing as a company to ensure that this doesn’t pass? Are you actively involved in the media, legislation, activists, etc. to ensure that SOPA doesn’t pass?
While Godaddy is wrong, they very active/vocal about promoting SOPA because they believe and support it. I hear you saying you’re against SOPA, but what are you doing to ensure it doesn’t become law?
I’m just not fully aware of all your efforts. So, along with your blog sharing your position on SOPA, can you also share what you’ve done to ensure it doesn’t become law?
Thanks!
Standing up for what is right, #NamecheapAreAwesome 😀
Namecheap rocks! Congrats for this decision.
[…] https://www.namecheap.com/blog/?s=we-say-no-to-sopa […]
What companies are publicly opposing SOPA/PROTECT-IP?…
* MediaTemple[1] * CloudFlare[2] * StackExchange (creator of the Stack Overflow family of sites)[3], [4] * Github.[5] * Linode[6] * Hostgator[7] * Namecheap[8] I am also waiting for a response back from Heroku, Pingdom and http://bit.ly [1] https://twi…
I’m so glad to be a Namecheap customer right now. You guys are amazing. THANK YOU FOR SHOWING GODADDY HOW TO DO BUSINESS RIGHT.
You received 10 of my transferred domains from the Elephant Killers/SOPA Supporters at GoDaddy. Thanks for your stance and best interest in your user base.
WOW… GoDaddy just posted this update response. Seriously? Its like they are ASKING customers to leave!
Update (6:18 PM): GoDaddy seems unimpressed by the boycott so far. They made the following statement to Ars Technica: “Go Daddy has received some emails that appear to stem from the boycott prompt, but we have not seen any impact to our business. We understand there are many differing opinions on the SOPA regulations.”
[…] Cheezburger network tweeted they’re planning to remove their 1000 domains off of Go Daddy. Namecheep.com a leading Go Daddy alternative has stated they’re anti-SOPA and welcoming Go Daddy switchers. […]
What companies are publicly opposing SOPA/PROTECT-IP?…
* Scribd http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/scribd-protests-sopa/ * YCombinator http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supporting-companies-no-longer-allowed-at-yc-demo-day/ * Wikipedia http://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/12/13/how-sopa-will-hurt-t…
I just want to say… fuck yeah! I was worried I was going to be transferring from you guys, but now I’m doubled down. Rock on, Namecheap.
Thanks for not supporting SOPA. If SOPA fully comes into act, internet will not stay anything like it is now.
We need freedom. Stop SOPA.
[…] [引用來源：TechCrunch、Mashable、Reddit、HostGator、Namecheap] Tweet (function(){ var _w = 90 , _h = 24; var param = { url:location.href, type:'2', count:'1', /**是否显示分享数，1显示(可选)*/ appkey:'', /**您申请的应用appkey,显示分享来源(可选)*/ title:'tech beer.in：香港人不懂！外國網民激烈反對政府進一步控制互聯網', /**分享的文字内容(可选，默认为所在页面的title)*/ pic:'', /**分享图片的路径(可选)*/ ralateUid:'', /**关联用户的UID，分享微博会@该用户(可选)*/ language:'zh_cn', /**设置语言，zh_cn|zh_tw(可选)*/ rnd:new Date().valueOf() } var temp = []; for( var p in param ){ temp.push(p + '=' + encodeURIComponent( param[p] || '' ) ) } document.write('') })() […]
This is precisely why I transferred my domains over to Namecheap from GoDaddy. Thanks to ArsTechnica for the heads up on GoDaddy’s support of the incredibly ill thought out SOPA. Thanks to Google for the ability to search for the best place to register domains.
Good job at having the coupon code “SOPAsucks”
Already have 50 domains with you guys but moving over my remaining from GoDaddy!
[…] for how to move your domains away from GoDaddy. I chose NameCheap as my new registrar; they publicly oppose SOPA, have a great reputation among the tech-knowledgable communities on both Reddit and Metafilter, […]
Congratulations. You just got my business (I’ll be transferring my domains out of GoDaddy within the hour).
[…] say “No” to SOPA for sure. Other big companies who are also say no including HostGator, NameCheap, Cheezburger network and more. The point is that exisiting laws are more than enough to control the […]
Well they just lost 200 bux a year, moved all domains.
[…] 有關條例推遲至明年才在決議，HostGator、NameCheap、Cheezburger network等都已經表明，絕不支持SOPA。YCombinator投資者Paul Graham更表示，他們在未來的活動中，亦不會準許支持SOPA的公司參加。他們認為現時的條例已經足夠控制網上侵權行為，沒必要無緣無故增加有關機關的權力。 […]
Thanks, Namecheap! I fully agree with your stance against SOPA and believe it’s bad legislation.
The Pirate Party of Canada has decided to move all Godaddy held domains to Namecheap because of SOPA.
Thank you for saying NO to SOPA.
thank goodness,all my domains bought from namecheap.yahoo!
[…] very pleased with my move, & I expect to be with Namecheap for a long time to come. Oh, and Namecheap is also against SOPA, just like all smart companies should […]
[…] Since GoDaddy’s publicly stated support for SOPA, NameCheap has published their own release reassuring their customers that they are completely against SOPA and are as disappointed in GoDaddy as we are(NameCheap says no to SOPA). […]
[…] Since GoDaddy’s publicly stated support for SOPA, NameCheap has published their own release reassuring their customers that they are completely against SOPA and are as disappointed in GoDaddy as we are (NameCheap says no to SOPA). […]
[…] rest is here: Namecheap Blog » We say NO to #SOPA (our official stance) […]
[…] EDIT: NameCheap is Against SOPA, here is their official stance. […]
Slashdot and reddit approve of your stance and are sending you more business.
I recently changed my contact details, and now I have to wait 60 days to transfer several of my domains from Godaddy to Namecheap.
Thank you for your statement, Namecheap.
I made the mistake of registering with godaddy for like 10 years. I noticed Namecheap says that you keep your already paid for time.
Im the head tech at an ISP in my bit of the world. Sunny South Africa. We have a bunch of domains with GoDaddy and we will slowly be migrating our domains from GoDaddy to NameCheap.
It wont be a quick process (as we will wait for the domains to get close to their expiry date and move them at their next renewal.)
We lost faith in their corporate responsibility a long time ago.
[…] EDIT: NameCheap is Against SOPA, here is their official stance. […]