As per the statement of support, namespaces may be released when they meet the appropriate criteria.
NOTE: When applying any of the macros ensure to replace the placeholder “REQUESTEDNAME” with the namespace requested.
Workflow
Search for the requested namespace in GitLab.com admin: users or groups, once found visit the GitLab admin page for the namespace.
Apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Internal Checklist macro in Zendesk. Please remember, impersonating a user will reset the Last Sign-In values on the user account such as Last Sign-In IP and Last Sign-in at (Impersonation should be avoided when reviewing activity on Personal Namespace).
Answer all questions in the Internal Checklist (Yes/No) ensuring to cross-check the information found in the admin section.
If the namespace is eligible for immediate release, follow Request successful.
Create a new Zendesk ticket with the namespace owner's email address as the requester (found in admin).
Set the form of the new ticket to Gitlab.com (SAAS) Account Related Form.
Apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Contact Namespace Owner macro and mark the ticket as On-hold.
Make an internal comment providing a link to the namespace requesters ticket.
Requester's Ticket:
Copy the ticket's link and add it to the Internal Checklist.
Reply to the requester with the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::First Response macro and mark ticket as On-hold.
Namespace owner responded
If the namespace owner makes a response (don’t remove my namespace) follow these steps:
Apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Cancel Request Macro to the namespace owners response.
Apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Failed Namespace Request to the namespace requesters ticket.
Namespace owner has not responded
If after one week and there has been no response, apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Contact Namespace Owner macro a second time and mark the ticket as On-hold.
After two weeks, the ticket will be automatically marked as open and an email sent to the assigned engineer.
If the namespace owner makes no response, follow the Request successful steps.
Request successful
If the request is successful, follow these steps:
In admin, rename the owner's namespace:
Navigate to the namespace in admin - users or groups
Select “Edit” on the profile.
Append "_idle" to the username in case of a user, or to the group URL in case of a group.
Save changes.
In Zendesk:
Apply the GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Successful Namespace Request macro to the Namespace requesters ticket and mark the ticket as Solved.
Namespace is not available
Apply GitLab.com::Name Squatting Policy::Failed Namespace Request macro and mark ticket as Solved.
FAQs
Does a login in response to a name squatting request mean that the account is active?
No, the user has to explicitly reply to the name squatting request saying "I want to keep my namespace". If the user hasn't responded and has just logged in, send a final message saying something like, "I see you logged in at X, but you need to let us know here if you want to keep your namespace".
What constitutes data in the account?
A group, a project, etc. means data. Unless the project or group is empty, or there's been no activity for 2 or more years.
Is namespace squatting permitted?
Namespace squatting is not permitted as explicitly stated in our terms. User and group names are provided on a first-come, first-served basis and may not be reserved.
Does using a trademark in a way that has nothing to do with the product or service for which the trademark was granted considered a violation of trademark policy?
Using another's trademark in a way that has nothing to do with the product or service for which the trademark was granted is not a violation of trademark policy. Claiming trademark infringement is a legal process, and we will not release a namespace for trademark violation without a court order.
Should we release a namespace even if the request might seem questionable?
Yes, we should always release the namespace as long as it meets the release criteria. Trust and Safety will take the necessary steps to mitigate any abusive activity which may subsequently originate from the namespace. See Support Team Meta issue 3145 for discussion and additional context from Support, Legal, and Trust and Safety.
