Namecheap Court Order & Subpoena Policy

Namecheap is a strong advocate for privacy. As such, and per our Privacy Policy, we cannot and will not share customer or account information without our customer’s express consent except under limited circumstances when required by law or legal process properly served on Namecheap or one of our affiliates.

If you are seeking such information, here is what you need to know:

1. Submission of Subpoenas and Court Orders

You may mail or serve Namecheap with a valid criminal or civil subpoena or U.S. Court Order as follows:

Service or Mail
Namecheap Legal Department
4600 East Washington Street
Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85034

Namecheap may, at its sole discretion, accept service by email.

Email
Legal@namecheap.com

2. Criminal Subpoenas

If you seek the identity or account information of a Namecheap customer in connection with a criminal matter, and you are a member of the law enforcement community, you must mail to or serve Namecheap, Inc. with a valid U.S. subpoena.

Background Documentation

Namecheap reserves the right to request a copy of the complaint and any supporting documentation that demonstrates how our customer information is related to the pending litigation and the underlying subpoena.

Notice to Customer and Response Time

Upon the receipt of a valid criminal subpoena, unless the circumstances or subpoena warrant otherwise, Namecheap may promptly notify the customer whose information is sought via email or U.S. mail. If the circumstances do not amount to an emergency, Namecheap may not immediately produce the customer information sought by the subpoena and may provide the customer an opportunity to move to challenge the subpoena in court. Namecheap reserves the right to charge an administration fee to the customer by charging the customer’s Namecheap account.

Policy Regarding Email

Namecheap complies with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §2701 et seq., which prohibits an electronic communications service provider from producing the contents of electronic communications, even pursuant to subpoena or court order, other than in limited circumstances. Therefore, except as required by an order in accordance with this Act, Namecheap will not produce the content of email or other electronic communications. Whether or not Namecheap gives its customer advance notice of any such disclosure will be governed by the terms of the order.

Fees for Subpoena Compliance

Namecheap reserves the right to charge the person or entity submitting the criminal subpoena for costs associated with subpoena compliance whenever the government agency and/or the nature of the request permits. Payment must be made within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the invoice. Checks should be made out to Namecheap, Inc. Namecheap reserves the right to require payment prior to the release of the documentation requested.

Namecheap’s criminal subpoena compliance costs are as follows:

Research – hourly rate varies per the complexity of the information request and/or management involvement in providing the subpoenaed information
Federal Express - Cost as Billed
Copies - $.50/page

3. Civil Subpoenas

If you seek the identity or account information of a Namecheap customer in connection with a civil legal matter, you must mail to or serve Namecheap, Inc. with a valid subpoena. Valid subpoenas are those issued by (a) any U.S. federal court or (b) the courts of the State of Arizona, or any other State in which Namecheap has qualified to do business. Namecheap may waive the requirement and respond to a subpoena issued by a state or local court located outside of Arizona State, or any other State in which we are qualified to do business, in limited circumstances and at its discretion. Namecheap will not respond to subpoenas, or analogous discovery mechanisms, issued by courts outside of the U.S. due to the inherent difficulties in validation.

Background Documentation

Namecheap reserves the right to request a copy of the complaint and any supporting documentation that demonstrates how the customer information is related to the pending litigation and the underlying subpoena.

Fees for Subpoena Compliance

Namecheap will charge the person or entity submitting the civil subpoena for costs associated with subpoena compliance. Payment must be made within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the invoice. Checks should be made out to Namecheap, Inc. Namecheap reserves the right to require payment prior to the release of the documentation requested.

Namecheap’s civil subpoena compliance costs are as follows:

Research - $150.00/hour
Federal Express - Cost as Billed
Copies - $.50/page

4. Additional FAQs

A. UDRP COMPLAINTS & PROCEEDINGS

Namecheap is compliant with the UDRP guidelines set forth by ICANN. Should you file a UDRP related claim, you may submit a copy of the filed claim using the methods described herein to provide Namecheap with notice of a domain name dispute with one of our customers.

B. NON-U.S. COURT ORDERS & SUBPOENAS

Namecheap requires that, unless governed by ICANN regulations or other treaties/Acts to which we may be subject, all court orders and/or subpoenas must be issued by a U.S. court or law enforcement entity.

C. REQUEST FOR REGISTRANT INFORMATION OF DOMAINS

Namecheap complies with ICANN guidelines, Registry rules for non-ICANN governed domains and privacy regulations. All requests for domain registrant information will be evaluated accordingly. In particular, where governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and/or ICANN, Namecheap applies the “balancing test” set forth in Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

D. CUSTOMERS PROTECTED BY WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY

Namecheap will not disclose the identity of a customer who is protected by privacy services offered by Namecheap unless specifically required by U.S. court order/subpoena or as set forth in 4.C.

E. DO I NEED TO NAME NAMECHEAP AND/OR WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY IN THE LEGAL ACTION

No, you do not need to name Namecheap or Withheld for Privacy in a legal action.

Please note that Withheld for Privacy is a third party provider and separate entity from Namecheap. Withheld for Privacy is a private registration service that is wholly-based in Iceland. It provides privacy services only. This means that it has no control over the domain name, website content and/or other services provided to the customer through Namecheap. Moreover, based on its design, it does receive nor does it have access to a domain registrant’s information.

F. ACCURACY OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION REQUIRED

While Namecheap does not require that you list the name of a customer who is protected by Withheld for Privacy in a court order or subpoena, we do require that any details which are set forth in a subpoena or court order must be accurate and specifically identify a customer. This means that, when you have a customer name, it must be the correct customer name associated with a domain or account for us to be able to take action pursuant to the court order/subpoena. It also means that the identifiers must be sufficient to identify a single Namecheap customer. For this reason, please do not use an IP address as a sole identifier.

G. BANKRUPTCY & RECEIVERSHIPS

If a domain and/or website is subject to a bankruptcy proceeding or receivership, it is important to give Namecheap notice as soon as possible. Bankruptcy and Receivership Orders must be issued in English and be able to be validated as authentic by Namecheap. Namecheap reserves the right to refuse action if the orders are outside of the U.S. and unable to be validated to our satisfaction. Orders must list individually any domain(s) and/or website(s) that are to be separated from other assets and it must state that the Trustee or Receiver has the authority to manage and sell them.

H. SETTLEMENTS & DOMAIN TRANSFERS

In general, customers may privately settle a dispute over a domain/website without Namecheap’s involvement. A transfer of ownership of such domain/website may be affected by the controlling party through their account panel.

In limited circumstances, parties may request Namecheap’s assistance in effecting a transfer to a new owner under a settlement agreement. If you are seeking our help, at a minimum we will require a copy of the legal settlement agreement which must:

Involve litigation;
Have notarized signatures from both parties;
Specify the affected domain name(s); and
Include a statement that the litigation will be dismissed with prejudice.

Further, Namecheap reserves the right to require an indemnification agreement from one or more parties.

5. General

Reservation of Rights

Notwithstanding any of the above, Namecheap reserves the right to challenge the validity of any subpoena or court order or otherwise move to quash or take such other action to secure an order from the relevant court that Namecheap is not required to respond to the subpoena or court order.

Modification

Namecheap reserves the right to modify this policy at any time in its sole and absolute discretion. Such modifications are effective immediately upon posting to this site.

Further Questions & Contact Information

If you have any questions about how Namecheap deals with subpoenas, court orders or other legal process, please contact us by email or regular mail at the following address:

Namecheap Legal Department
4600 East Washington Street
Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85034
legal@namecheap.com

Last revised: January 13, 2017