| Type | Private Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Domain Registrar |
| Founder(s) | William Mushkin |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people |
William Mushkin (Director of Operations) |
| Products | Web Services |
| Website | Name.com |
Name.com is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and web hosting company.
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Name.com was founded in 2003, by Bill Mushkin, who previously founded the computer software company, Mushkin Inc. in 1994.[1] Mushkin bought the company Spot Domain LLC (Domainsite.com) in 2002. There are currently three registrars in the group: domainsite.com, name.com and name.net.[2]
Name.com offers more than 50 gTLD and ccTLD extensions and an aftermarket domain brokerage. Customers have over one million domain names registered with the company.[3] Name.com offers domain registrations with free Google Apps.[4] Name also recently introduced two factor authentication. [5]
The employees at Name.com have worked on additional side projects, including Who.is, BlueRider.com and Wiki.Name.com.[6]
In 2007, Name.com was accused of trademark infringement by Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The companies declared the domain registrars Name.com and Spot Domain had registered over 40 domains of various misspellings, such as NeimanMarco.com and BerdgorfGoodman.com. These domains failed to show accurate contact information or provided false details.[7] In the complaint, which was filed in March 2007, in the US District Court in Denver, the high-end retailers sought damages of at least $100,000 per name.[8]
Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman claimed that the registrars were taking advantage of their special status with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), to secure misspelled domains during the five-day grace period, and paying only for the ones with valuable revenue. This practice, called domain tasting, resulted in cybersquatting on various trademarked names. Neiman Marcus had accused the registrar Dotster in 2006 of the same infringement.[9] Mushkin, however, denied the accusations of "domain tasting," explaining that Name.com and Spot Domain were merely registrars, caught in the crossfire. He also argued that "the industry is young," and the issues were not clear-cut. In the settlement, there were several stipulations imposed on the companies Name.com and Spot Domain. Mushkin declined to specify the agreement that was reached.[2]
The site name.com/good features an assortment of causes supported by Name.com.[6] The company has supported a range of non-profits, including a small literary magazine in South Africa, Amazwi, and a well-known local organization, Environment Colorado. Many of the charities featured are small, grassroots efforts, though Susan G. Komen and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are listed as well.[10]
Apart from the listed donations, Name.com has been involved in several other charitable efforts. The company has a bike-to-work incentive program which involves payback for a new bicycle.[11] Though the project appears to be at a standstill, Name.com worked briefly on a system of maps for laptop.org,[12] and offered to guide interns in their Denver office.[13] In April, 2008, Name.com went to London for the Webby’s People’s Voice Awards, sponsored by The Public Interest Registry, the registry behind the .ORG extension. Name.com sponsored Idealist.org at the event, which featured a panel of non-profits, including Greenpeace and Wikipedia.[14]
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