Name

Name

Founded	June 17, 2003(2003-06-17)
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Owner	Identity Digital
Founder(s)	William Mushkin
Industry	Domain Registrar
Products	Web Services
URL	www.name

Nameis anICANNaccrediteddomain name registrarandweb hostingcompany based inDenver, Colorado.Since the company was founded in 2003, it has since grown to become one of the leading domain registrars in the world, offering close to 600 Top Level Domains. On its website, Name offers a wide range of products and services to help individuals and businesses build and maintain a successful online presence. The company sellsDNS domains,web hosting,emailservices,SSL certificates,and other website products.

History

Name was founded in 2003, by BillMushkin.Mushkin bought the company Spot Domain LLC (Domainsite ) in 2002. There are multiple registrars NAME.COM LLC uses for reselling: domainsite, name, name.net, sunmounta.in, alohanic, briarwoodtechnologies, domainregservices.

Acquisitions

On January 7, 2013, it was announced that Name was acquired byDemand Media.According to 10K reports from Demand Media the company paid $18 million to acquire Name.

Rightside Group, a spin-off company from Demand Media, became the parent company of Name in August 2014.Rightside also owned domainaftermarketservice NameJet anddomain registrareNom, as well as operating adomain registrywith 40nTLDs.Rightside stock was publicly traded under the stock ticker NAME, inspired by their ownership of Name.On June 13, 2017, Rightside wasacquiredbyDonuts Inc.in a transaction valued at $213 million. In a Merger Agreement approved unanimously by Rightside's Board of Directors, all of Rightside's assets, including Name, became part of Donuts Inc.

On June 22, 2022 Donuts Inc rebranded to becomeIdentity Digital.

Community involvement

Name regularly hosts ahackathoncalled Hack the Dot, where developers, marketers, and creatives come together to create quick-fire projects within a two-hour timeframe based on a mysterydomain namewhich is revealed at the time of the event. The company has partnered with Galvanize, Turing School of Software and Design, and a variety of othercoding schoolsandcoworkingspaces in the past.

In 2016, Name partnered with Galvanize to offer free coding classes to interested students with a program called Learn to Code. These classes were offered over the course of a year in multiple cities across the U.S. including Denver, Boulder, San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin.

Support of net neutrality and internet free speech

In December 2011, whenGoDaddyvoiced its support forStop Online Piracy Act(SOPA), Name was among several other anti-SOPA domain registrarsthat offered transfer discounts for anyone who wanted to move their domains to another provider.

When net neutrality came under review by theFCCin both 2014 and 2017, Name created educational videos and articles explaining to their customers why net neutrality was important and what individuals could do to protect it.During the July 12, 2017Day of Actionto raise awareness and support of net neutrality, Name posted a banner on the homepage of its website encouraging visitors to contact the FCC to voice their support forTitle II.

Domain tasting allegation

In 2007, Name was accused oftrademark infringementbyNeiman MarcusandBergdorf Goodman.The companies declared the domain registrars Name and Spot Domain had registered over 40 domains of various misspellings, such as NeimanMarco and BerdgorfGoodman. These domains failed to show accurate contact information or provided false details.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.

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 calleddomain tasting,resulted incybersquattingon various trademarked names. Neiman Marcus had accused the registrar Dotster in 2006 of the same infringement.Mushkin, however, denied the accusations of "domain tasting," explaining that Name 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 and Spot Domain. Mushkin declined to specify the agreement that was reached.

DNS hijacking

Reports ofDNS hijackingby Name have appeared on the Internet as early as 2010.The registrar will never return a NXDOMAIN status for DNS queries, and instead directs users to an advertising site they operate. When faced with criticism over this practice, the company pointsto a clause of their Domain Registration agreement that relates to "parked domain names," which is standard practice among registrars.

Name stopped the practice of DNS wildcarding in March 2013.

Services

Name registration oftop-level domains(TLDs), includinggTLDs,ccTLDs,nTLDs,and legacy domains, and offers an aftermarket domain brokerage. Service offerings include website hosting, email,Google Apps for Work,SSL certificates, a website builder,WordPressinstallation and hostingName also supportsTwo-Step Verificationto help users add an extra layer of security to their user accounts.

Bearglecorn mascot

Name 's mascot is called "Bearglecorn", a mix of bear, eagle, and unicorn, which can be seen on the company's404 pageand in some marketing material. The word was coined by employee Jared Ewy and the original likeness was made by Owen Borseth using various images from the internet. Rightside filed atrademarkon the Bearglecorn in early 2016, citing its first use in 2013.

Philanthropy

Name.Gives

In November 2017, Name launched a philanthropy program called Name.Gives, funded by their parent company Donuts, Inc. Each quarter, Name employees have the opportunity to apply for funds to be donated to a charity or community organization they support. Organizations in the Denver-metro area that have been awarded financial contributions in the past include SafeHouse Denver, theSpecial OlympicsDenver Swim Team, Metro Caring, Rangeview High SchoolTrack and Field,and the Northfield High School Solar Rollers.

Other community programs

The company has supported several non-profits, including a small literary magazine in South Africa,Amazwi,and a local environmental organization, Environment Colorado. Many of the charities featured are small, grassroots efforts, thoughSusan G. KomenandElectronic Frontier Foundation(EFF) are also listed on the company's sponsorship page.

The company previously had a bike-to-work incentive program that involved payback for a new bicycle.Though the project appears to be at a standstill, Name worked briefly on a system of maps forlaptop.org,and offered to guide interns in their Denver office.In April 2008, Name sponsoredIdealist.orgfor the Webby's People's Voice Awards, which was in turn sponsored by ThePublic Interest Registry,the registry behind the.orgTLD. The event featured a panel of non-profits, includingGreenpeaceandWikipedia.

External links

• Name
• Name Blog