Companies are making it harder to register and sell crisis-related domains. You should thank them.
Domain name registrar Namecheap has stopped allowing domain names including the words coronavirus, covid, and vaccine from being registered through its service.
Domain name marketplace DAN.com is removing all coronavirus domain names from its service.
These two developments might irk people trying to profit from tragedy, but these people should thank the companies instead. Why? They’re saving them from registering worthless domain names. And looking like a schmuck.
Namecheap’s move will also help stem the tide of people registering coronavirus domains to peddle fake remedies and undertake other scams. Of course, it’s easy to just switch to a registrar that will look the other way. But kudos to Namecheap for not wanting to have any part in it.
There are legitimate reasons to register domains related to the pandemic. Just ask Oracle.
But for the bulk of people out there: just stop.
jothan says
Reports in wider media are not always as sophisticated about our industry, and tell the negative narrative because it draws more eyeballs, which means domain investors get a bad rap as the industry does.
When we founded the ICA, we made sure that this was baked into the initial code of conduct, and it has remained there to this day as a core tenet.
It is important to highlight this as it diffuses a lot of that negative sentiment spilling over into the general business of domains.
https://www.internetcommerce.org/about-us/code-of-conduct/
Pointing out the CoC helps elevate that there are people in the world who register or invest in domain names that do so without exploiting world events where people are suffering.
joesaba2014 says
It seems strange that this happens now, I do not, I have never found it right but there are people who are interested in making money are opportunists of a disease that kills people around the world, when freedom of expression on YouTube, social networks, mobile phones, It is the greatest thing to make a lot of money with Viral Marketing
Making a video is easy and talking about serious illnesses and they have no fucking idea because they are not doctors or nurses, this is so every day of the year.
Now Coronavirus is Viral Marketing as before writing and an online business that goes up the aisles even Dow Jones grows, it no longer has losses, this is dangerous because this speculative virus will now earn many trillions of USD to many companies deadline and you will never find the remedy to completely cure the Coronavirus, just like 40 years ago with AIDS, even without finding a curable medicine in its entirety
Emma says
I hate .. i told ya sos. Wtf. Vaccine.chat ..04/10/209 recorded… bo. #emmasway
James says
Wow. Watch out for the Namecheap Gatsapo. Poor move. I mean I dont support profiteering off of coronavirus name but I am equally against censorship! Good reason for me to move my domains out of namecheap to a registrar that dosent censor its users.
Andrew Allemann says
They aren’t censoring. If you want to register a domain, you can just call them.
Rob says
It’s great to come back to this topic after almost a year.
Coronavirus has now been proven (if you don’t vegetate in front of your TV) to be a huge hoax – the “virus” itself never isolated, the “test” giving false positives, the insane (medical and otherwise) reactions, and the imposed social/financial destruction and tyranny. I won’t give any further details, but anyone can research more and find this out.
What gives Namecheap the right to stop anyone from registering any domain? (@Andrew: being denied the registration and then being forced to call them for permission IS censoring. Having to justify why you want that domain, and then being at their mercy to decide IF they think you have a legit use for it, is totally wrong. Saying that people will scam is a pathetic diversion – there is another agenda at play here and Namecheap is participating.)
I’m with James on this one. I attempted to register a coronahoax related domain a little while ago and was stopped by Namecheap. How dare they. They have totally lost my respect and trust. This is the sort of action that can lose a customer forever. And they will.
Going further, these actions will harm the US in the long term. Corporate USA is being used to enact tyranny (eg: censorship by social media). I (among many others I’m sure) will now seek out services in other countries outside of corporate USA.