Namecheap Joins Cheezburger, Wikipedia, reddit, and Other Online Communities for a January 18th SOPA and PIPA Blackout
Namecheap Joins Cheezburger, Wikipedia, reddit, and Other Online Communities for a January 18th SOPA and PIPA Blackout
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 18, 2012
Namecheap, a leading international domain name registrar and web host, will be blacking out its front page on January 18th in protest of pending SOPA and PIPA legislation along with many other websites, including Cheezburger, reddit, Wikpedia and other popular online communities.
Earlier, Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall said, “While we at Namecheap firmly believe in intellectual property 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 openness that stands for everything we all value in our modern society.”
To rally opposition against SOPA and PIPA legislation, Namecheap held a Move Your Domain Day initiative on December 29, 2011, and raised over $ 64,000 for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Social news site reddit.com will be turning its website black on January 18th from 8am to 8pm EST. During the same period, Namecheap’s homepage will be blacked out. Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia announced that the popular online resource would be blacked out on January 18th, and Ben Huh, founder and CEO of Cheezburger, has also committed to blacking out its websites on the same date.
“Cheezburger opposes SOPA and PIPA because we believe these bills will kill jobs and innovation,” said Huh. “The technology industry has been one of the few bright spots of job growth in these trying times. These bills will only generate legal bills, force the government and sites to monitor and track users, and kill jobs. Congress needs to stop bowing to lobbyists and start on a new bill that will stop counterfeiters and pirates without harming the future of the Internet and our economy.”
While account management will still be accessible on Namecheap through an additional click, its homepage will be completely black with a message urging individuals to contact their senators and representatives to shelve SOPA and PIPA indefinitely.
Namecheap strongly encourages its US-based customers to contact their Representative or Senator, and its International customers to donate to organizations like the EFF, to ensure that broad opposition to this proposed legislation rings loud and clear. Along with other companies listed on SOPAstrike.com, Namecheap also encourages everyone to spread the message on January 18th using Facebook and Twitter hashtag #SOPAstrike.
“We remain confident that our customers can continue to help us fight against SOPA, PROTECT-IP, and other overbroad and ill-considered legislation,” Kirkendall said.
About Namecheap
Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based ICANN accredited domain registrar founded in 2000 by CEO Richard Kirkendall. With over 500,000 clients and millions of domain names under management, Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars in the world and also offers web hosting services. Find out more by visiting us at http://www.namecheap.com.
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December 29th’s Move Your Domain Day Results In Over 27,000 Transfers to Namecheap and Over $50,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
December 29th’s Move Your Domain Day Results In Over 27,000 Transfers to Namecheap and Over $ 50,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 30, 2011
Domain name registrar Namecheap is proud to announce that it has processed a total of 27,209 transfers on Move Your Domain Day, its December 29th initiative to raise awareness against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
Additionally, Namecheap announced that once 25,000 transfers had been processed that they would double the donation to $ 2 per transfer. This resulted in a tremendous final push among Internet users and Namecheap customers, and the 25,000 goal was easily reached by the end of the evening, resulting in a minimum $ 50,000 donation to EFF.
Namecheap’s CEO, Richard Kirkendall, said, “We are ecstatic at the response we have received from the Internet community. The Internet is speaking and we’re proud to facilitate that and at the same time help a wonderful organization such as EFF continue their fight against SOPA, PIPA, and other overbroad, ill-considered legislation.”
In Namecheap’s December 22nd official statement denouncing the proposed SOPA legislation, Kirkendall likened the passing of the bill to “detonating a nuclear bomb on the Internet when only a surgical strike is necessary.”
As a result, Namecheap released a coupon code (SOPASucks) to encourage those patronizing SOPA-supporting domain name registrars to transfer their domains to Namecheap. Since the release of the coupon code on December 22nd, over 70,000 domains have been transferred to Namecheap.
Notably, the largest gains for Namecheap occurred on Move Your Domain Day, a campaign Namecheap announced earlier this week after Internet users rallied around December 29th as the date for users to move to a new domain name registrar.
Namecheap will continue to honor the SOPAsucks coupon code for $ 6.99 .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, and .BIZ domain transfers through December 31st, though the coupon may be extended for an even longer period of time. Donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation will continue through 12 PM EST on December 30th and Namecheap will continue to donate $ 2 per inbound transfer throughout this time.
“From the first day Namecheap opened for business, our customers have always come first.” said Kirkendall. “I would like to thank each and every one of our customers during this campaign for making their voices heard, voting with their dollars, and supporting EFF in their fight for our digital freedoms.”
Shari Steele, Executive Director of EFF, stated, “EFF is pleased to support Namecheap’s efforts to bring attention to the proposed SOPA legislation and its consequences for Internet users worldwide. With the funds donated from the MoveYourDomainDay effort, EFF will continue to defend your right to free expression in the digital world.”
About Namecheap
Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based ICANN accredited domain registrar founded in 2000 by CEO Richard Kirkendall. With over 500,000 clients and millions of domain names under management, Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars in the world and also offers web hosting services. Find out more by visiting us at http://www.namecheap.com.
###
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.