
GoDaddy no longer on SOPA supporter list. - seltzered_
http://www.godaddy.com/newscenter/release-view.aspx?news_item_id=380&isc=buyxxxb
======
dmethvin
I've seen Bob Parsons lording over an elephant's carcass as if his contrived
conquest of nature by a man with superior force and unlimited money was an
incredible accomplishment. I don't care if elephants are a pest in Zimbabwe,
his glee over killing such a majestic animal seems out of place. If he wants
to kill something, he's welcome to come to some wildlife areas here in
Maryland and cull the deer population when we have annual bow hunting season.

I've passively suffered through Godaddy's blatantly sexist use of women to
sell the company's services. There is _no other company_ that I do business
with that runs this kind of advertising. Imagine the kind of hellstorm one of
the Y Combinator sites would endure if they decided that a Godaddy-ish
marketing plan was right for them as well.

I've fought my way through the Godaddy site each time I've wanted to register
or renew a domain, once even confused to the point where I've had to call
their support line to make my way to something that should be obvious to find.
I'm tired of breathless upsells, scary threats about needing things I don't
need, and a ten-step process that attempts to push their lame-ass additional
products.

For me, Godaddy's SOPA support was just the last straw, the one that finally
made me get up off my ass and do something about paying money to a company
whose morals and practices I despise. Think about those other issues before
you give Godaddy a pass for its SOPA reposition.

~~~
damoncali
Politics and style aside, I don't get all the vitriol at their checkout
process. Log in, click "ok" (or "next" or whatever it is) a couple times and
you have a domain. It's not _that_ bad. Sure, they try to upsell you, but the
default click is always "no".

I have had a much, much worse experience with vista print, for example, who
signed me up for a subscription to Essence magazine (yes, a paper magazine
aimed at black women - for which I am very much not the target), despite the
fact that I opted out (yes, I had to) of that silliness.

Think for a moment about how slimy the business practice is there. They aren't
just upselling crap, but purposely distorting circulation numbers to rip off
advertisers of their magazine partners.

~~~
shawnz
Yeah, but vistaprint is a _business card company_! What could you possibly
expect out of their domain registration services?

------
RexRollman
I know why GoDaddy is doing this but looking at that list is pissing me off
because many of the entries are really the same company. For example, on the
list is:

ABC, ESPN, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and Marvel Entertainment, LLC.

They are all owned by Disney, so really that is just one damn company. Other
companies are also on there more than once. I bet this list would be a bit
shorter if you get rid of the shell games being played here.

~~~
murz
Good observation. It seems that Lamar Smith has been doing every dirty trick
he can to beef up that list, like including the names of companies who had
only agreed to a generic statement about fighting the sale of counterfeit
goods [1][2].

[1]
[http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111222/16384317175/gibson...](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111222/16384317175/gibson-
guitar-others-sopa-supporters-list-say-they-never-supported-bill.shtml)

[2] [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111223/09051617180/law-
fi...](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111223/09051617180/law-firms-
removing-their-name-sopa-supporters-list-sopa-support-crumbling.shtml)

------
newsio
Let's see a public statement by the CEO that not only says "we've been removed
from a list" but also "we will never support SOPA or any other far-reaching
legislation designed to undermine the Internet."

~~~
neutronicus
Honestly, until they shell out for lobbyists to help push through a bill I
_like_ , I don't consider them redeemed.

~~~
tiles
Not even just a bill you _like_ , a bill that doesn't actively hurt many of
their present customers and the community as a whole.

GoDaddy's not just the asshole at the party, GoDaddy's the one who's been
calling the cops.

~~~
rhizome
...from inside the party.

------
blhack
I don't think godaddy really understands that, at this point, none of this
matters.

They _supported_ this bill. Don't they think that that gives us some insight
into their corporate culture?

Let's get this straight: you supported a bill which would destroy the
internet; something that the tech community is vehemently against and, only
when we absolutely dragged you kicking and screaming did you eventually
retract your support?

No thanks.

This is like holding a gun to somebody's head and telling them to say that
they like your cooking. It's nonsense.

~~~
earbitscom
Are you saying that all those times those people did not really like my
cooking?

------
gerggerg
Interesting that they've chosen to publish the list of current supporters
directly in their news release. It's almost as if they're saying directly to
the internet, "Leave us alone. Here are the people you should be angry at
now."

Also some of those companies have already withdrawn support like the Graphic
Artists Guild <https://www.graphicartistsguild.org/sopa/>

~~~
rhizome
They're selfish enough to be fine with merely muddying the waters.

------
sintaxi
GoDaddy is no longer on the _list_ of SOPA supporters, but does that mean it
no longer supports SOPA??

------
bryanh
I find it interesting that there is no way for GoDaddy to get out of this one.
They withdrew their support and... now what? I didn't think the mob was going
to let them off the hook anyways, and it looks like they won't.

Not that I mind, I should have moved my domains a long time ago for dozens of
different reasons besides the SOPA charade and won't use them again regardless
of their stance on any legislation.

~~~
cheald
Here's my view of it:

    
    
        Supporting SOPA: -10 reputation
        Ceasing support of SOPA (but not opposing it): +5 reputation
        Helping write SOPA: -100 reputation
        Having a special exemption from SOPA: -100 reputation
    
        Total reputation: -205.
    

Once they get back "in the black" (by, say, lobbying against SOPA), I would
_maybe_ consider using them again, if they had a significant product value-add
over whoever I'm using at the time.

~~~
loopdoend
Flippant disregard for customers and their intelligence: -100 reputation

------
djhworld
From an outside perspective to this (I don't own any GoDaddy domains) I'm
finding the corporate response from them quite amusing.

Why don't they just get someone senior to go on camera and say "look we
originally supported this motion but after reviewing the bill and a massive
outcry from our customers we feel we should put this notice out to describe
our position on the matter...." and then go on from there.

These drip-drop press releases are just like a child trying to fit in with the
cool kids after some previous altercation

------
tannerc
Great. But for many people it's too late. What would help GoDaddy at this
point is making large, public donations in opposition of SOPA and anything
like it. Even then, it's time for their business to make some big changes
(see: <http://kottke.org/11/12/the-internets-go-daddy-issues>).

------
geekam
Damage has already been done. With the story of Weebly also making a point
that they are not with the proliferation of free speech and Internet. Instead
they are more about control.

------
dabent
The can still support SOPA, even if they aren't on the list. It would be nice
to see a definitive "I was wrong about SOPA." statement from Bob Parsons and a
personal commitment from the company stating the reversal of their position.

This move only seems to make it look like they don't support SOPA on the
surface, with no underlying commitment to oppose it or even stay neutral. It
also serves to throw every other company they've stood with to support SOPA by
throwing them all under the bus.

------
uptown
And my name is no longer on the GoDaddy supporter list.

~~~
evolve2k
Good to hear. What's the back story here?

~~~
uptown
Moved most of my domains when they had their elephant thing, but had a few
left over that I wasn't sure I'd be renewing. As of today, I've moved
everything I plan to retain going forward and have set any that I intend to
abandon to not auto-renew.

All in, they've lost about 20 domains from me. Not a lot compared to some
organizations, but maybe if they'd been more focused on the customers
operating in the industry they serve rather than doing everything else they
seem to do to get their name out there they'd have realized why SOPA wasn't in
their best interest to support.

To add to the "GoDaddy acting shady" list, in their domain manager they
changed the link which should bring you to accept or decline the transfer form
to a link that simply refreshes the page. To accept or decline the transfer
you now have to find the "Pending Transfers" item in a drop-down menu.
Couldn't be happier to be leaving these guys.

------
overshard
This is too little too late. Just because they are "not on a list" doesn't
mean they don't support it. They have already done too much to push this
through.

------
saturn7
Well GoDaddy that doesn't change the fact that I've had my domains unlocked
for 4 days now and all my authorization codes still come back as invalid. Is
that normal? I've been transferring domains for 10 years, now all of a sudden
I don't know what im doing.

------
stfu
I would love to see more companies on the list getting targeted. The reverse-
robo call idea is a nice one, but with good organizing a lot more could get
achieved.

Does anyone know if it would be illegal to target employees individually
instead of "the corporation"? For example scrape the web for email address and
phone numbers for these people employed at the SOPA support companies and
inform them about the fatal policies their organization is supporting. The
issue is still to web-centric and needs to reach beyond that level. Most
mainstream news platforms, e.g. drudge, huffpo have still very little issue
related news.

------
frankydp
Godaddy's internal copyright policy is just as bad as SOPA, no court, only
good faith, and remove before notification.

excerpt below and full text here <http://goo.gl/cytjm>

B. Copyright Claims

1\. If the Complaining Party would like to submit a copyright claim for
material on which you hold a bona fide copyright, Go Daddy requests that the
Complaining Party substantiate such claim by providing Go Daddy with the
following information via email to CopyrightClaims@godaddy.com. The words
"Copyright Claim" should appear in the subject line. A copyright claim can
also be submitted by mail to: Copyright Agent, Go Daddy, 14455 N. Hayden Road,
Suite 219, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

.......

A statement that the Complaining Party has a good faith belief that use of the
material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner,
its agent, or the law. A statement that the information in the notification is
accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the Complaining Party is the
owner, or is authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right
that is allegedly infringed.

2\. For Copyright Claims, upon receipt of appropriate notification from the
Complaining Party, pursuant to Section 1 of Copyright Claims above, Go Daddy
will remove or disable access to the material that is claimed to be
infringing.

3\. If the Complaining Party provides Go Daddy with appropriate notification,
pursuant to Section 1 of Copyright Claims above, including information
reasonably sufficient to permit Go Daddy to locate and remove or disable the
material in question, or includes information concerning repeat infringement,
then Go Daddy will forward the Complaining Party's written notification to
such alleged Infringer and shall take reasonable steps promptly to notify the
Infringer that it has removed or disabled access to the material.

------
crikli
Too little, too late.

I didn't care about Bob shooting elephants. Didn't care about using semi-
attractive B-list celebutants to sell domains.

But this SOPA thing was, is, a massive dealbreaker. This camel's back wasn't
hurting, but this was like dropping a railcar on it. We've got over 100
domains and they're all getting moved 12/29.

------
jlcx
Not important, but there is a mildly amusing error on judiciary.house.gov: If
you go here, you see the list without GoDaddy:
[http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rogue%20Websites/List%20of...](http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rogue%20Websites/List%20of%20SOPA%20Supporters.pdf)
If you go to the original misspelled URL that some people are still passing
around, you see the list with GoDaddy on it:
[http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rouge%20Websites/List%20of...](http://judiciary.house.gov/issues/Rouge%20Websites/List%20of%20SOPA%20Supporters.pdf)

------
faragon
What's stopping us from boycotting the rest of the list?

~~~
boostsrt
Time to string up the music labels, right?

~~~
geekam
I have just asked a question related to yours:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3396823>

------
cag_ii
In all fairness, this press release should be read in context with this other
one:

[http://www.godaddy.com/newscenter/release-
view.aspx?news_ite...](http://www.godaddy.com/newscenter/release-
view.aspx?news_item_id=378&isc=buyxxxb)

I'm not defending go daddy (my comment elsewhere in this thread still stands),
but this release on its own only shows a small part of their current stance.

------
krelian
Godaddy always had a reputation for being a shitty company, I mean, just look
at their website! Who would want to do business with that?

------
avallark
I think this is a moral victory for all of us who took a stance and started
the domain transfer from godaddy to other providers.

I personally shifted to Gandi.net, simply for the want of moving to a Europe
based provider. I think US based providers are eventually going to be forced
in if the Act goes through anyway.

------
j45
How will we know if any company won't flip flop again, or support something
like this in the future?

------
cheald
Does anyone have an early version of the official PDF? I want to diff the two,
and see how things have changed. A lot of people have pulled support as it's
become known that they're on the list.

------
tech_guy_10
What's loreal and revlon got to do with SOPA?

~~~
sashk
most likely fight knockoffs

------
ghostmachine
that ship has sailed go daddy. You can have my internet privacy when you take
it from my cold dead hands.

------
semisight
I guess that's a step...

------
rorrr
GoDaddy still doesn't oppose SOPA that they helped creating.

Just a PR stunt of a butthurt company.

Fuck them. Keep moving your domains, people.

~~~
slamdunc
Exactly. From what I understand, they were key in drafting the legislation and
now no distance from it matters.

Action from the company in helping draft an alternative, or bring a discussion
to more people would be a huge step forward for them, not more PR or web pages
listing people they used to be publicly aligned with (and likely still aligned
with in private).

~~~
seltzered_
OK, you've convinced me to look into moving my dad's host away from godaddy
(don't own any godaddy domains myself).

