Namecheap vs. Facebook on Privacy
namecheap.com
namecheap.com
Is facebook trying to get access to namecheap's user info on the grounds that it might help them get trademark infringers?
Why does facebook think this will help them?
Are the trademark infringers really just phishers publishing fake "facebook" sites that look like facebook but aren't?
Apparently. At least that's the impression I got.
> Why does facebook think this will help them?
I don't know. The article explicitly goes into how whatever data NameCheap has is not necessary to enforce a trademark action.
> Are the trademark infringers really just phishers publishing fake "facebook" sites that look like facebook but aren't?
It doesn't say. Who knows? Who cares? The point is that NameCheap is not giving up the data unless legally compelled to do so by a court, and a demand letter from a FB lawyer doesn't cut it.
Facebook thinks they have a "legitimate interest" to know who put up these domains, Namecheap does not. As generally unsympathetic as I am to Facebook, I think they are in the right here. Those domains are obviously designed to confuse people into thinking they are accessing Facebook products or services.
edit: looks like https://dockets.justia.com/docket/arizona/azdce/2:2020cv0047... but I don't have a PACER account.
I am very glad that namecheap is pushing back on requests like this.
Why do you think a company should betray its users without so much as a warrant?
1. Namecheap are the top domain registrar for botnet C&C servers, and have been for years [1]. At one point they were over 65% of all botnet domains. They didn't get and hold that position by being responsive to complaints.
2. The US Justice Department had to sue Namecheap in March over a scam outfit called coronavirusmedicalkit.com [2]. Namecheap happily supplied service to this blatantly criminal fraud.
3. Namecheap have a reputation for ignoring complaints about spammers on their site. [3][4] In my own case, when I reported drug-dealing spammers to them they gave my email address to the spammers in a bid to intimidate me into silence.
As for your apparent interpretation of my remarks as saying that everyone hosting with Namecheap must be a criminal, that is so ludicrous a leap as to merit no further attention.
[1] https://www.spamhaus.org/news/article/798/spamhaus-botnet-th... [2] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-its-... (See PDF attachments for name of defendant) [3] https://smartypants.com/index.php/news/article/update-on-spa... [4] http://www.circleid.com/posts/20200312-namecheap-eff-and-the...