Should I move away from Namecheap ?

[Amaresh]

Hey guys,

I run a free webhosting service and often I receive abuse complaints because of people sometimes hosting phishing and child porn sites.

I always dealt with the complaints in a timely manner and my hosting company has never had a problem.

However, sometimes the complaints go directly to Namecheap and even after I respond to their complaints by taking action against the offending sites I often find my domain blocked for days until I can get them to unblock it again.

I have explained to them countless times that it is not I who is hosting these materials, as I have no control over the content people upload to their accounts. I have always taken timely action against the offenders.

So, I was just wondering is there any other registrar that would be able to handle my case in a slightly more professional manner ?

I was thinking of moving to Moniker, what do you guys think ?

 

[ezhilraja]

why don't you try a vps? i personally suggest http://serveraxis.com/vps.php?ps=VS000.5G-0025.0GP

 

[fab]

What web-host are you using?

 

[katherine]

How many hosting customers have you got on average ?
Unless you have a large customer base, Namecheap must be thinking that there is something wrong with you or your business model.
Probably you need to be more selective... or even discontinue service. Is it worth the hassle ?

Moreover you should never host your own domains on the same platform as your 'customers', ditto for the domains. Because their misbehavior will take you down...

 

[Amaresh]

why don't you try a vps? i personally suggest http://serveraxis.com/vps.php?ps=VS000.5G-0025.0GP

I am not using Namecheap's hosting. I have a dedicated server. The issue is regarding their domain registration service.

What web-host are you using?

Fluidhosting, but how does that even matter ?

How many hosting customers have you got on average ?
Unless you have a large customer base, Namecheap must be thinking that there is something wrong with you or your business model.
Probably you need to be more selective... or even discontinue service. Is it worth the hassle ?

Moreover you should never host your own domains on the same platform as your 'customers', ditto for the domains. Because their misbehavior will take you down...

I am currently hosting 75,000+ accounts. It is certainly profitable so I'd like to continue but since I'm offering subdomains (like most free services do) it is always my domain under scrutiny even for whatever content people host with my service.

I am just looking for a registrar who would be willing to work with me. Is that asking too much ?

 

[demaxxus]

All Namecheap is trying to do is protect their customer base, which is what any good registrar would do (or SHOULD do, anyways). If they don't take action so that the problem user takes a bit of a hit, the same problems will continue to happen.

I have explained to them countless times that it is not I who is hosting these materials

But it's your account, so when it comes down to it you are in fact responsible for those users. You're the one they're in an agreement with, not your users.

as I have no control over the content people upload to their accounts

It's not fun, but in order to protect your business you should in fact be doing some policing of your own.

 

[Amaresh]

But as I said, every time I get a complaint I've taken the required action in a timely manner. Their warning emails say that my domain will get blocked if I don't respond in 6 hours - I always do, and still my domain ends up getting blocked for 3-4 days until one of their staff comes to their senses and unblocks it.

So, all I wanted to know was would there be any other registrar where this might not happen - bear in mind that I'm not complaining about the abuse emails, my gripe is with the way they deal with after I've handled the issue.

Trust me, I've tried to monitor things but I don't have the time to monitor 75k accounts. I have a software firewall in place which blocks most of these sites automatically but people are always improvising.

 

[demaxxus]

"But as I said, every time I get a complaint I've taken the required action in a timely manner."

This is a reactive approach though, not a proactive one. Namecheap basically wants you to prevent it from happening in the first place, not clear it up after the fact.

It's the same sort of thing in the email world. If you send an email and get a lot of spam complaints, there's a chance you're going to end up on some blacklists. And even if you remove the person from your list and never mail them again, the damage is already done and you're still going to be on the blacklist (temporarily, at least). They key is preventing that spam complaint from ever happening in the first place by having better list management practices. Or in your case, better user screening/content monitoring.

I'm not saying I don't understand where you're coming from, because I do, as constantly monitoring 75k+ users would be a nightmare if you're a one man operation, I'm just telling you how Namecheap views the situation.

My recommendation would be to beef up the security/verification steps at the beginning of the signup process, in hopes of cutting down on these shady accounts right off the start (not sure if that would be possible with your model though, it's hard to say without knowing more about your business).

 

[katherine]

I don't have the time to monitor 75k accounts.

It's not their problem, try putting yourself in their shoes. If you don't have the resources/money to do so then clearly your business is not so good.
I'm even surprised they are still willing to work with you after repeated incidents. If they have to deal with such incidents on a regular basis it means you are more a liability than a customer to them... honestly I would probably ask that you pack up and find another home
I know what kind of registrar you need, you need one like estdomains. They were so mafia-friendly that they got their accreditation terminated...

I think you definitely need to step up monitoring but automate it ie. receive notification every time a new account is set up, if it looks fishy investigate and kill it if necessary. Monitor certain keywords like bank, Pin code etc, that should help. Require manual approval for new accounts etc. A custom script can certainly help with administration.

Make sure that you completely split the critical domains/hosting from the rest (free accounts). Also have enough domains to spread the risk but if the registrar cancels the whole account it will do no good.

 

[demaxxus]

If you don't have the resources/money to do so then clearly your business is not so good.

That's really what it comes down to. A business model that used to work doesn't necessarily keep on working as you grow, and it may need to be modified. When you had 10 users I'm sure the complaints were nonexistent, but with 75k+ users you now have to think about company/brand protection, which is all part of doing business.

 

[Amaresh]

You guys have all very valid points which has got me thinking. However, this still does not answer my original question. Do you guys reckon that moving from Namecheap wouldn't make a difference ?

 

[demaxxus]

Unfortunately I can't comment in that regard. I've never had a problem with complaints like that, so I'm not sure who would be more lenient about stuff like that.

 

[Anthony Ng]

I still don't get it when registrars start policing CONTENT.

 

[jrzeygirl]

Hey guys,

I run a free webhosting service and often I receive abuse complaints because of people sometimes hosting phishing and child porn sites.

I always dealt with the complaints in a timely manner and my hosting company has never had a problem.

However, sometimes the complaints go directly to Namecheap and even after I respond to their complaints by taking action against the offending sites I often find my domain blocked for days until I can get them to unblock it again.

I have explained to them countless times that it is not I who is hosting these materials, as I have no control over the content people upload to their accounts. I have always taken timely action against the offenders.

So, I was just wondering is there any other registrar that would be able to handle my case in a slightly more professional manner ?

I was thinking of moving to Moniker, what do you guys think ?

Hey Amaresh - hit me up directly if you have any questions about Moniker!

 

[hnh]

Namecheap is a enom reseller, and there is just no reason to go through a middleman, when so many larger registrars offer the same service for lower prices and better customer support.

 

[dcristo]

I still don't get it when registrars start policing CONTENT.

Guilty by association. Why would they take the risk?