Namecheap: Russia Service Termination • Hacker News Board

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#171

Post by nomel » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

effnamecheap wrote: post #23

Simply an American, and I’ll be moving my dozen domains off of Namecheap. Attacking random Russians for something you don’t like of their leader is as dumb as post-9/11 Sikh bashing or interning German/Italian/Japanese after Pearl Harbor and the war declaration. Way to make a shit situation worse.

It seems it would be completely logical to also boycott the European countries that are actively funding the Russian government with the billions of dollars that are given directly to the state, through the state owned Russian gas companies. If I'm reading this right, ~582bn~ 7bn USD (thanks Jabbles!) for just a few month last year: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/gazprom-hits-r...

I think it makes sense that the European people should also feel the immediate pressure for actively funding the war for the foreseeable future. They're an absolutely massive income stream, and should be part of the collateral, especially since they've been warned about this for decades now.

I would be interested in seeing a counter argument to this.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#172

Post by symbix » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

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 "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

I get that, and you're totally entitled to do this. And you're probably right that ends justify the means. And, probably, total damage will be worth it. But, in my insignificant personal case, I will be busy moving domains and paying for transfers instead of doing what I've been doing and spending money on what I've been spending it for the last 5 days, helping people detained and/or arrested for participating in anti-war protests (as a volunteer, see https://ovdinfo.org/).

And, you know, those people you want to point at their own government, they won't get it. They're brainwashed by Putin's propaganda which has reached true Goebbels level. It was going there for a while, Putin's regime began with gradually shutting down free media 20 years ago. Yes, people do have internet, and Russian internet is full of Putin's propaganda. Russian authorities are banning websites telling the truth (yes there's a government powered DPI firewall which every major ISP has to install by law). And they're working on a law which will make it a crime with 15 years of sentence just for calling the war the war. So I wouldn't count on that. The only thing that might work is hearing the truth from friends and families, but it's very hard to talk to those people. I'm trying, though, when there's still at least some reasoning.

I'm not complaining. While I did try to fight against the regime since its beginning, I could've done more. We screwed this up, and we're responsible, and all the inconveniences we might have cannot be compared to the suffering of people of Ukraine. Just saying.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#173

Post by raxi » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #123

raxi wrote: post #109

But such moves only shows the unreliability of businesses that preach net neutrality and similar things and in fact discriminate based on ethnicity. So they show that Putin is right, that democracy and liberalism are dead, that Ukrainians are nazi, and rally people around him even more.

We've always had a policy that almost anything goes excluding human rights abuses and especially war crimes and supporting violence. Nothing changed here.

So, you blame your clients: programmers, webmasters, etc in war crimes.

Got it.

Even I am Estonian, I move away looking for a more sane company.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#174

Post by can16358p » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #116

Russian wrote: post #108

I believe we should start a group lawsuit against Namecheap in US courts. The damage they will make will be much, MUCH greater than a domain name renewal cost. We didn't violate a single point of the agreement and nobody of us is in US SDN list. This specific company think it can fuck a contract just because they want and we should stop this. Internet is a territory of freedom where we do not sort people.

We have every right to choose who we do or don't do business with. We are a private company and are protected as such. If you need more time to move away, reach out.

How do you think this will affect trust of your customers?

Not flaming, genuine question. Not Russian here though as a paying (and recommending) customer for Namecheap I can't think of the fact that someday I might be falling into a specific identity (nationality or otherwise) that Namecheap might suddenly stop doing business with even if I share the same views with NC, losing me at least hours and money for moving out of NC.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#175

Post by hereforphone » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #148

hereforphone wrote: post #133

If they're willing to terminate service for political reasons in this case, who's to say they won't do it in the future for other political reasons? Here begins the slippery slope of Namecheap terminating service to those it deems "wrong". Been a happy, confident Namecheap user for a long time. Now I'm not so confident.

This is a terrible attempt at slippery slope argumentation. Launching a major land war while pursuing nuclear escalation is a solid cliff above cancel culture.

Are they cancelling service for the government, or individuals who happen to live in Russia?

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#176

Post by amir734jj » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

xanaxagoras wrote: post #125

I'm not in Russia and I don't really care about this war (sorry, just being honest!) but this isn't the kind of internet I want, where companies show their virtue by taking political positions and removing service from their customers (looking at you AWS). The domain and e-mail service that I paid money for shouldn't be contingent on my government behaving and continuing to behave in a manor that Namecheap approves o…

It was a decision more motivated by the sanctions than human right of war crime.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#177

Post by ccn0p » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

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 "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

Just to be clear, this is definitionally "deplatforming". Having "plenty of other choices" doesn't change that. There are always other choices.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#178

Post by bduerst » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

exizt88 wrote: post #65

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

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 "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

> People that are getting angry need to point that at the cause, their own government. Believe me, I'm very angry at my government. Unlike you, I've been protesting the regime for several years, putting my health and well-being at risk. I've donated thousands of dollars to anti-regime organizations. And I'm currently in the process of fleeing the country because of this. So I'm also very angry at you, for screwing me…

>Unlike you, I've been protesting the regime for several years, putting my health and well-being at risk

If you've been protesting your regime for years, why don't you also understand their protest?

It seems like you are both aligned here.

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#179

Post by lostmsu » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:18 PM UTC

exizt88 wrote: post #65

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

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 "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

> People that are getting angry need to point that at the cause, their own government. Believe me, I'm very angry at my government. Unlike you, I've been protesting the regime for several years, putting my health and well-being at risk. I've donated thousands of dollars to anti-regime organizations. And I'm currently in the process of fleeing the country because of this. So I'm also very angry at you, for screwing me…

Have you already stopped paying taxes, that fund this war?

Re: Namecheap: Russia Service Termination

#180

Post by MilenaO » Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:18 PM UTC

asats wrote: post #49

NamecheapCEO wrote: post #42

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 "deplatforming". I sympathize with people that are not pro regime but ultimately even those tax dollars they may generate go to the regime. We have people on the ground in Ukraine being bombarded now non stop. I cannot with good conscience continue to support…

Could you clarify what exactly is a "user registered in Russia" that you are banning? I left the country (because of the government), and now have american billing info in my account, but I still got the termination email.

Hi! I'm in the same boat, I left Russia 5 years ago and now I live in the US and all my billing/account addresses are also registered in the US. I'm confused as to why I got the termination email.