Sure but I don't want our company to be a factor in that contribution. I'm sure there are plenty of others out there willing to take the money and provide these services. If there are anti-government non profits out there, We'll consider keeping those up with us if you'd still want anything to do with us.

If you are no longer based in Russia and not doing business there, we'll consider that as well.

your support team does not think so

The continued refrain of “contact our currently being bombed support teams” has got to be the most amusing part of this whole thing - for those watching from the outside.

You're just the average russian right now. Complaining when the war pulls them out from their comfortable orwellian reality. No social network, e-payments, entertainment and start to cry.

Where were you last Wednesday for instance, hours before the "pacification" took place? Not complaining perhaps, not doing anything.

Not doing anything

No value was created out of them moving these domains. It's not like Namecheap is doing any good here. They're just posturing without actually helping anyone with this move or affecting real change.

Do you really think all these sanctions against Russia won't have any effect? The more countries and companies that join in, the faster the results will come. The Russian masses cannot put a blind eye to what their government are doing any more.

I find it really distasteful that a couple of you cannot even be bothered to transfer some domains. You know what your taxes are funding right now don't you???

Try to understand difference between government and ordinary citizens who got beaten by police, thrown in jail, poisoned by chemical weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny or even killed for their protest action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov

And right now more than 7000 people already arrested in Russia for participating in anti-war protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_anti-war_protests_in_Russ... . Sorry we didn't trying hard enough!

It's a good start, but 7000 is puny for a population of 144 million.

Ironically, I think the 2014 Revolution of Dignity would be a good inspiration.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity

So far it seems like the police are being allowed to arrest protesters, no one/very few fights back with molotov cocktails like they did in Ukraine in 2014.

I’m truly sorry for all honest Russians that don’t support their government and what’s going on. But the world cannot let Putin go on and there is only two ways of doing that; military action that will result in full nuclear war or pushing the Russian population to step up and overthrow your government.

The comments here are basically several variations of "I'm Russian and in the process of fleeing my country after getting beaten up by police" or "I'm Russian and actively against my home country's government and haven't been there for years", and the CEO saying "sucks for you but maybe you deserve it".

The Russian government's actions in Ukraine are horrifying. People wanting to spite anyone with a Russian background is distasteful and I fear it may simply backfire if it keeps building, similar to anti-Asian violence after covid or western actions and racism only empowering the message of Islamic extremists.

I'm fine with punishing corporations and putting a squeeze on Russian billionaires so they'll breathe down Putin's neck. Telling a random dude born in Russia to bugger off just isn't right to me. My home country has a history of awful shit but nobody ever actively turned me away just for my background.

The sanctions, when applied bluntly without a particular goal will have the effect of pushing Russia further from the Western world and into a closer relationship with China. If anything they destabilize the world further.

Most people pay taxes that fund atrocities but I guess attacking white Europeans crosses a line.

The “but he did it too” spiel rarely works when talking to adults. But you know what, if someone force me to switch dns provider when my government is killing innocent families with my tax money I’ll gladly do it without whining on the internet.

Unless your governments is killing white Europeans you won't have to worry about, people won't care like they do now and you'll keep getting away with it.

>No value was created out of them moving these domains. It's not like Namecheap is doing any good here. They're just posturing without actually helping anyone with this move or affecting real change.

Whether you agree with Namecheaps' decisions or not, they are Namecheap's decisions to make.

You're likely absolutely correct that Namecheap won't effect any real change with this move. That said, why shouldn't they show (non)support for whomever they choose?

Yes, this is likely a pain in the ass for many Namecheap customers and will likely piss a bunch of people (Russians and non-Russians alike) off.

It's also likely to negatively affect Namecheap's financials as well.

I have no relationship (financial or otherwise) with Namecheap, nor am I a Russian national. As such, you might think that it's easy for me to take this position. And perhaps you're right.

Then again, I believe freedom of association is an important civil liberty. As such, I don't fault Namecheap for their decisions.

Especially since the company (and right here in this HN discussion) has claimed they will continue to do business (and/or provide more time for transition) with those who aren't supporting the Putin regime.

As you mentioned, most tech folks in RU are anti-Putin. Why shouldn't tech folks outside of RU take the same position?

I know I'm horrifed and outraged by Russia's recent actions. Just as horrifed and outraged, by the way, as by my own government's (US) actions in Iraq and elsewhere.

I'm sorry that you're being negatively impacted by this. It's not fair to you and others.

I'd point out that this wouldn't even be an issue if the Russian government (your government) hadn't chosen violence, murder and destruction.

As such, it's not with Namecheap you should be angry.

Feel free to disagree. Like I said, I have no skin in this "game," except in wishing the Ukrainian people well and hope for their safe passage through this dangerous situation, wholly created by your government.

It is their decision to make, absolutely. And calling that decision posturing is the others' judgment call to make.

>It is their decision to make, absolutely. And calling that decision posturing is the others' judgment call to make.

I couldn't agree more. One of your upvotes is mine.

I don't. I just don't see a logic in this. Our government and Russian people are different realities. We just happen to reside on the same territory. It's easy to say sitting on your couch "why don't you protest" or "why didn't you flee the country" when it's not you who has to do it.

Either you care or not, your government represents the russian people for all the world. I know that individual people should not be blamed, and I'm really sorry that you guys are in the middle of this shit, but the rest of the world has no other effective way of showing to the russian government our disagreement with what they’re doing.

> your government represents the russian people

That's the exact sentiment (along with the "please don't play the pity card" comment higher up) that's leading average Westerners to assault ethnic-Russian or Russian-speaking people living in the West, who have absolutely zero to do with the Russian government. And it's the same sentiment that lead to the rise in anti-Asian hate & violence in the last few years.

When average people become an acceptable target, it's (at least implicitly) dehumanizing. Regardless of whether people like you would endorse that violence (I'm sure you never would), we've seen where this rhetoric leads.

There's the same classic motte-and-bailey as with coronavirus ("we're really just calling out the government, not the people"), except in the current Russian case, there's a lot more motte than bailey since citizens are explicitly an accepted target.

>That's the exact sentiment (along with the "please don't play the pity card" comment higher up) that's leading average Westerners to assault ethnic-Russian or Russian-speaking people living in the West

That may be true. I haven't heard about such stuff (and a cursory web search didn't show any reports of violence against Russians in Western countries), but I did see protests by Ukrainians in New York City that were joined by Russians, with both groups calling for Russia to stop this violence and murder.

Perhaps I'm too wrapped in my own filter bubble that I don't see it?

Can you point to specific incidents where civillan Russian nationals and/or those of Russian descent have been attacked in "Western countries"?

That would be really helpful. Thanks!

Yes, I can. That perspective came to me from Russian friends, but it's not hard to find news stories of "actual" incidents.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/vandals-break-windo...

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/nation-world/ukraine/russi...

I even came across tweets sharing the same experience, while searching for these articles. Here's one:

https://twitter.com/ZITTIEBNl/status/1497963179409915910

>Yes, I can. That perspective came to me from Russian friends, but it's not hard to find news stories of "actual" incidents.

Those are disturbing stories. It's unfortunate that this has only been reported by local news outlets.

Folks who engage in such activities should be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. There should be no place for such violence/harassment of anyone.

I imagine that the vast majority (>98%) of people in Western countries would agree with that statement.

But there are assholes everywhere. They are small in number, but they pretty evenly distributed throughout the population. And we will never get rid of them.

But a few incidents, while reprehensible, among nearly 3/4 billion people, is hardly a hemispheric plot against Russians and/or those of Russian extraction. Wouldn't you agree?

Parent poster here: it seems I should have been more explicit by saying that your government represents russian people in the political sense. I still say that I’m really sorry for the mess russian government has dragged all russian people, but we (rest of the world, especially ukrainian people) have no other effective means to show our disagreement with the russian government. And as someone else on this thread wrote, a war brings inconveniences to both sides, but at least the ukrainians didn’t ask for it.. If you’re russian, I hope you stay safe!

Thinking that "your government represent your people for all the world" is a really privileged point of view.

Political representation of a country. Should have been more explicit..

Why do you believe that this is an "effective way of showing" anything to the Russian government? Do you seriously believe that they care about their people?

OTOH it does work wonderfully as fuel for Russian government agitprop: "see, they really are out to get you, not just us!".

> It's easy to say sitting on your couch "why don't you protest" or "why didn't you flee the country" when it's not you who has to do it.

Namecheap has lots of Ukrainian employees, including a few of their C level employees, who simply can't choose to not fight. Not sure this is the line of reasoning you want to take...

You fund the attacks on Ukraine whether you want it or not. Nobody is targetting you specifically, but transfering a couple of domains as collateral damage isn't that much problems is it? And while you think of a response to that, keep in mind that your tax money is funding attacks on innocent civilians, as in bombing them.