
Here is Godaddy’s statement in support of SOPA - joeyespo
http://www.thedomains.com/2011/11/15/here-is-godaddys-statement-in-support-of-the-stop-online-privacy-act-house-hearing-tomorrow/
======
malandrew
Godaddy, with all its built up infrastructure around policing the domains
registered with them, has a major financial self-interest in supporting this
bill. While it may or may not increase costs for GoDaddy given all the stuff
their already do, SOPA would reduce competition and increase the barriers to
entry. I'm sure GoDaddy sees SOPA as a way to further consolidate market
share.

~~~
rubinelli
I've heard horror stories from webmasters that got their domains taken by
GoDaddy after baseless IP-related accusations and forced to pay hundreds of
dollars to get them back, so they not only have the infrastructure in place,
they seem to be making a tidy profit off it.

------
brndnhy
As a high school student in 1988, I interviewed with Bob's previous company,
Parsons Technology, for an after-school customer support position.

At that time Parsons Technology was known primarily as the publisher of a
personal finance program called MoneyCounts, but they also released a
formidable catalog of Bible-related software.

Much to my dismay, the interview process was heavily skewed toward determining
how much of a believer I was and ran into all manner of private territory.

I did briefly meet Bob -- just a handshake and he was gone.

Very little of my computer experience was discussed and by the end of the
rushed interview I was given complimentary copies of Parsons Technology Bible-
related software.

I drove away from that interview disappointed and tricked.

Obviously you can't jump to conclusions from anecdotal data, but I wanted to
share this experience and my personal opinion that Bob Parsons is an intensely
self-righteous and dogmatic fellow.

Anyway, from my early experience with his first company, to his bizarre and
narcissistic elephant hunt, GoDaddy's obnoxious objectification of women, and
now SOPA... I've always felt the guy is just sort of twisted and unsavory.

One man's view only.

------
mwsherman
Can someone cite a source either on the GoDaddy site or a .gov site? I don’t
doubt it personally, but I’d like to see an official source for the statement.
This being the Internet and all.

~~~
samstave
[http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rouge%20Websites/SOPA%20Su...](http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rouge%20Websites/SOPA%20Supporters.pdf)

~~~
CWuestefeld
Holy mackerel! I hadn't realized how badly the deck was stacked. If you go to
the page [1] that links to that document, you'll be horrified.

The official page of the House Judiciary Committee shows that the committee
has completely made up its mind already. In addition to this list of
supporters, they are full of links to supportive letters, pro-SOPA press
releases, etc.

There is not one single item on that page to reveal that anyone is opposing
this.

It seems to me that before a bill is approved, and especially at this point,
still in committee, the legislature ought to try to maintain some balance.
They ought to at least acknowledge that there are alternate points of view,
and show those alongside the supporters.

[1] <http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/issues_RogueWebsites.html>

UPDATE: I just called Rep. Lamar Smith to complain about this, since he heads
the committee. The person taking the calls said that's a committee issue, and
forwarded me to them. As soon as I started explaining my concern to the
committee phone-answerer, they stopped me and forwarded me to another line,
that allows me to record comments "for the full committee", and which is
"checked periodically". In other words, there doesn't seem to be any real way
to complain to the committee about this.

UPDATE 2: I talked to my own Representative (or rather, his assistant). There
doesn't seem to be any process where he can feed comments about this to the
committee.

~~~
samstave
SOPA and NDAA are the latest [giant] steps toward totalitarian tyranny in the
US.

The moves are blatant and any opposing voices are simply ignored.

------
JamisonM
I wonder if GoDaddy supports this because it gives them a clearer legal
framework for dealing with complaints of piracy problems on domains they have
under management. If I were them I would be concerned about my legal
responsibilities to the parties whose domains I manage and to the complainants
and would want specific legislation that can allow my business to address
complaints in a standardized manner that is unlikely to make me look worse
than the other guy down the block.

If this is the case then as a business they pretty much have to support it --
it would be their obligation to shareholders to do so.

~~~
lallysingh
Sorry I just don't get this. They're about as responsible as Verizon is for
listings of "Escort Services" in the yellow pages.

~~~
JamisonM
As responsible morally or legally? Their moral obligation would be irrelevant
to them as a business, their legal responsibilities right now might be
unclear. If SOPA clarifies it for them in a way that they think will improve
their business it makes sense for them to support it on that basis. Perhaps
the parallel you draw is useful, if a business is doing something illegal and
someone demands that their yellow page listing be pulled so that the phone
company is not seen as supporting the business and sues them to get them to do
so is there legislation to cover that? Legal precedent? Remember the Crag's
List flap over "erotic services"? GoDaddy does not want to be put in a similar
position of having to decide between Legal/PR battle to defend their customers
vs. just giving in. Maybe SOPA gives them that clarity?

------
ryan_s
From the post: "protecting American consumers from the dangers that they face
on-line"

Seriously? I dont need someone to protect me online. It's. It the Wild West.
Who will protect me from the crap they sell on late night TV? Maybe we should
put a stop to infomercials next.

I thought the supporters of this were supposed to be anti "big government".
Seems like this bill is just imposing more government regulations.

------
mindcrime
Well, looks like I'll be moving all of my domains to a different registrar.
Anybody have any suggestions for a good one?

~~~
stephen_g
I've used Namecheap for a couple a while back, and had no problems. Their
online interface is quite nice and a lot better than GoDaddy's. I recently
heard of some people saying their customer support isn't very good though, so
that may be something to look out for.

~~~
SquareWheel
I dealt with their customer service about 2 years ago and it was fine. Fairly
quick, they solved my problem.

------
ryandvm
Looking for a good, cheap GoDaddy alternative that also has an API for
scripting host name changes (yes, I host a server on my cable modem).

~~~
falava
gandi.net with a reseller account has an XML-RPC API, good registrar, not so
cheap:

<http://wiki.gandi.net/fr/api-xml/docs/domain/host>

~~~
po
Everyone always says that but I've had nothing but trouble with gandi.net..
not their registration system but their payment system.

Two separate times, I've had them recommended to me and both times I gave up
on the transfer. Last time my payment (to my Amex card that I've had no other
issues with) was rejected and this is what they said:

 _So that your order can pass this time, we require : A valid Government-
issued Drivers License or Valid Government-issued passport with recognizable
photo AND A document from your telephone service provider that clearly states
the telephone number and the address as presented in the whois as belonging to
the registrant._

So I gave up instead. They never told me exactly why.

~~~
harlanlewis
My gandi.net experience is ~7 years out of date, but I also eventually gave up
after difficulties with their payment system (a year or two into using them).
Other than that, they were fine - pretty much invisible.

The thing is, you can find lot of companies that will register your domain,
take some money, and not make another sound until your domain needs renewal.
I've always been surprised at the loyalty gandi.net has engendered for a
service that's so thoroughly commoditized.

------
manojlds
Article says - Stop online Privacy???? I suppose Google, Facebook and others
would love that

~~~
ojbyrne
Freudian slip or that's the next bill in the pipeline ;-)

------
jwblackwell
I've got a feeling Namcheap are going to do pretty well if Go Daddy carries on
like this.

------
chalst
I still don't get it. What's in it for them? Have they got connections to big
media?

~~~
revscat
The CEO of GoDaddy is a hardcore Republican. They tend to be more
authoritarian than other people. Like you, I see no direct financial benefit
to GoDaddy in supporting SOPA. I suspect this is simply that authoritarian
tendency in action.

~~~
danso
This is not a partisan issue. One of the most vehement opposers of SOPA is
Darrell Issa, a staunch California conservative. On the other hand, Dianne
Feinstein, whose constituency includes the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, is for
the bill.

~~~
revscat
Perhaps I should have emphasized "authoritarian" more.

And Sen. Feinstein's constituency is the entire state of California. She has
received a lot of money from the entertainment industry, including the MPAA,
Disney, Sony, and others.

But you are correct: this is not a partisan issue. I was simply trying to
guess at the motives of GoDaddy's CEO. Since it was a guess, it will obviously
be imperfect.

~~~
AndyKelley
But you derived your guess from his political party. This is fundamentally
incompatible with thinking that this is not a partisan issue. So your guess
isn't consistent with your own beliefs. (Unless you've changed them since the
other comment.)

------
jebblue
So far, there is a very clear picture emerging to me of who the anti-SOPA
people are. It looks a lot like the Occupy Wall Street images. I'm not for or
against SOPA so far, still making up my mind but the people who are against it
so far aren't helping their case much with all the arm waving and now veteran
hating that I see in the comments on this page.

~~~
AndyKelley
What does veteran hating have to do with whether or not SOPA is good
legislation? Truth is truth, regardless of how despicable the truth-bearer is.

~~~
jebblue
If SOPA is bad legislation then opposing it should be a supportable noble
thing to do, it should not require defending hate speech.

------
linuxhansl
This is the best line: _The U.S. military has unintentionally procured
counterfeit products that could easily have put our troops in grave danger had
they gone undetected._

The military gets conned into buying counterfeit products, but somehow it is
the fault of the inter-tubes that that occurred.

Good buy reason and common sense.

------
patja
Actual article title is "Here Is Godaddy’s Statement In Support Of The Stop
Online Privacy Act House Hearing Tomorrow"

Maybe Godaddy thought they were throwing their weight behind an effort to stop
online Privacy, not Piracy? :)

------
gasull
I've used <http://www.name.com/> in the past. It's cheap and with very good
usability, unlike the clunky GoDaddy's UI.

------
olegious
I wish I had some domains to remove from Godaddy- but I got rid of my Godaddy
account after that elephant killing story.

------
swalsh
Reddit has been throwing around the idea of making December 29th pull your
domains day.

------
maeon3
from the article: _I’m finding that most of the concerns on the substance out
there are unfounded. The notion that the solutions that have been put forth
will break the Internet, or that certain legal businesses will go off-line
because of new mandates is utterly unconvincing to me._

Good men had to die to give me the freedom this man is trying to take away.
This man made his fortune in a country founded on what he is actively
destroying. Lets take away some of godaddy's freedom. Lets make this an
unprofitable year for them.

~~~
nik_0_0
"Parsons enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned to the
26th Marine Regiment which was attached to and operated as part of the 1st
Marine Division. In 1969 he served as a rifleman in the Delta Company of the
1st Battalion, 26th Marines, during a tour of duty in Vietnam, in the Quảng
Nam Province."

Looks like the owner of GoDaddy fought for your freedom as well.

~~~
burgerbrain
Were the North Vietnamese threatening my freedom? I wasn't aware that they
were.

US military Veteran != Fought for my freedom.

In some cases they did, in some cases they did not.

~~~
malandrew
Is it possible for a member of the US military to refuse to participate in an
armed conflict that is not being wage in defense of the US Constitution?

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 (the Wars Power clause) grants congress the
right to declare war and Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 gives the US President
the title of commander in chief.

The legitimacy of military power in the US derives solely from the US
Constitution. If war is waged in a way that does not support the Constitution,
I would imagine it should not only be every soldier's right, but duty to
disobey an order.

The Armed Forces Oath even suggests that should be the case:

"I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey
the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the
officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of
Military Justice. So help me God."

The Oath states that they are to defend the Constitution, not Congress, not
the President, not Wall Street, etc.

When soldiers take the Oath, are they also required to learn the Constitution
in detail? If not, how are they to know whether or not their actions are in
defense of it?

~~~
burgerbrain
I do not see how this is relevant. Perhaps you could explain that to me.

~~~
malandrew
It is OT from the OP and probably a better to ask this on Quora, but your
comment led me to ask this question

~~~
burgerbrain
Fair enough. Afraid I don't know the answer.

------
billpatrianakos
They seem to want to dumb down the Internet. Their reasons for support, with
all the "safety online" rhetoric made me want to vomit. The number one
registrar obviously doesn't get the Internet. The Internet isn't about safety
and we don't need anyone to protect us online. That responsibility should fall
upon each of us. They're playing off people's ignorance to try to make us all
believe that they support SOPA for out own good.

I don't want to be protected online. I'll take my chances in exchange for
being able to decide for myself what is safe and how I behave even if I decide
wrong.

------
maeon3
Can we get the word "Godaddy" to link to homosexual images on google images
for that keyword? make it a meme like pedobear. Make them change their brand
name.

~~~
vijayr
and then what? even if they did change their brand name, they'll still act the
same way.

I hope you aren't serious. Remember how Bank of America reversed their
decision on the 5$ fee they were planning to impose, when people started
moving their money to community banks? the only way to make these big
businesses budge on _anything_ is to take your business elsewhere.

~~~
polyfractal
Meh, they are just going to move that $5 fee somewhere else. And it will
likely be somewhere much less transparent.

Nothing was won against BoA, they just pushed the fee someplace harder to
find.

