Domain ecosystem is responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — How the

Groups are creating their own sanctions.

Firms and entities in the domain name ecosystem have taken action in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here’s a round-up of what’s happening:

Namecheap took the most decisive (and perhaps controversial) action. The firm, which has regarding 1,000 employees in Ukraine, told its Russian clients to take a hike. It gave them a couple of weeks to move their services elsewhere. But it made an exception today, saying that it would provide free anonymous domain registration and web hosting for any anti-war or protest website targeted at the governments of Russia and Belarus.

CENTR, an organization of ccTLD managers, suspended its Russian colleagues from the organization.

Tucows CEO Elliot Noss sent a letter to its bankers and lawyers asking them to take a look at any work they do with people connected to the Russian regime.

Separately, Ukraine asked ICANN to effectively cut off the internet to Russia. That’s not going to happen, but we will likely see a splintering of the internet so that authoritarian regimes can further control what their people see and say.