SOPA and GoDaddy

[Alex Gakuru]

Their elephant shooting incident in Zim and "feeding to Africans"
video left a very sour taste in our mouths. I never want *anything* Go
Daddy myself.

On 12/26/11, David Cake <dave at difference.com.au> wrote:
> I'm with Avri and Dan. It is not so much the single SOPA issue, as an
> oppportunity for people to notice that there are many reasons to dislike Go
> Daddy, and they are not on our side. I stopped using GoDaddy over the domain
> takedowns issue in 2007, have seen no reasons to change my mind (and several
> confirmations) since.
>
> And to make it a little personal - NCSG, thanks to the actions of its
> leadership, sponsors an orphaned baby elephant. Go Daddy leadership creates
> orphaned baby elephants. Surely, if there is one registrar we can feel some
> antipathy towards, it's GoDaddy.
>
> Regards
>
> David
>
> On 26/12/2011, at 6:03 AM, Dan Krimm wrote:
>
>> As Tara and Avri have pointed out, the recant is more PR than procedurally
>> substantive.  They're playing politics here, not changing policy,
>> evidently.
>>
>> For my part, I've never used them, but ever since Fyodor Vaskovich (Nmap,
>> insecure.com, seclists.org) had a very bad experience with an unwarranted
>> full-domain takedown back in 2007, I've distrusted them and periodically
>> they seem to run into additional thoughtlessness, reinforcing this
>> reputation rather than ameliorating it.
>>
>> Their investment in edgy branding is all about a constructed image, not
>> related to function or policy -- designed to get attention (of customers
>> who don't know any better -- in terms of economic theory, their
>> advertising
>> does nothing to reduce "information asymmetry" in the market), not to do
>> the right thing.  Different registrars are not basically all the same like
>> cola drinks, but GoDaddy is effectively encouraging consumers not to do
>> due
>> diligence in choosing them ("nothing to see here, just move along ... hey,
>> look over there: a wardrobe malfunction").
>>
>> My understanding is that they had a seat at the table in negotiating terms
>> of SOPA, and from the looks of it they mainly want to be "a player" rather
>> than specifically being responsive to customers.  My personal opinion is
>> that they are trying to play it both ways with conciliatory rhetoric
>> without really changing the substance of their position.  If they can
>> finesse a lot of customers back by saying "I'm sorry, trust me now"
>> without
>> having to actually change their position in the policy-making process
>> itself, then their business stays intact and they can have their cake and
>> eat it too.
>>
>> In short, they treat their customers like suckers (and in fact, like P.T.
>> Barnum, they seem to be aiming specifically for suckers as a marketing
>> strategy -- not that all of their customers actually *are* suckers, of
>> course, but the corporate attitude is pretty clear).
>>
>> I would never consider using them, regardless of what they claim to say
>> about their positions on such policy matters.  Their brand in my book
>> remains the one they purchased from Fyodor this past summer in order to
>> get
>> it off the radar: NoDaddy.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>>
>> --
>> Any opinions expressed in this message are those of the author alone and
>> do
>> not necessarily reflect any position of the author's employer.
>>
>>
>>
>> At 11:34 AM -0500 12/25/11, Timothe Litt wrote:
>>>>> Seems like I good idea.  I'll move mine to tucows.
>>>
>>> I happen to use GODADDY, though I'm not a defender.  In fact, I don't
>>> like a
>>> lot of their policies nor am I sanguine about reports of how they have
>>> been
>>> enforced.  But they did support DNSSEC when my previous registrar did not
>>> (and still does not).
>>>
>>> I don't follow the logic of moving your business at this point.  They
>>> took
>>> an unacceptable position on SOPA; many customers punished them by taking
>>> their business elsewhere.  GD responded by dropping their advocacy for
>>> the
>>> unacceptable position.
>>>
>>> So now you (and according to web postings, others) still want to move
>>> more
>>> business elsewhere?  Others report receiving "please come back" calls,
>>> and
>>> responding "no".  Shouldn't you be finding a way to reward their change?
>>>
>>> Even if you want a stronger anti-SOPA position from them, it seems
>>> illogical
>>> to send the message that changing their position doesn't change their
>>> customers' behavior.
>>>
>>> If I were on the receiving end, I might decide that since changing my
>>> position didn't placate my customers, there's no point in listening to
>>> them.
>>>
>>> I think that if we want to be effective advocates, we need to be careful
>>> about how and when we protest.  Sometimes it can be hard to take "yes"
>>> for
>>> an answer...
>>>
>>> I'd encourage you to be clear about what more you want from GD if you
>>> pursue
>>> moving your business.  I'm not sure that reflexively going with the
>>> (protest) crowd is the right move.
>>>
>>> Of course, it's your call.  But that's my 3 cents.
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------
>>> This communication may not represent my employer's views,
>>> if any, on the matters discussed.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: NCSG-Discuss [mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>> Adam
>>> Peake
>>> Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2011 10:07
>>> To: NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>>> Subject: [NCSG-Discuss] SOPA and GoDaddy
>>>
>>> GoDaddy supported SOPA and then it didn't, but:  "21,000 domains transfer
>>> out of Go Daddy in 1 day"
>>> <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57348183-93/21000-domains-transfer-out-of-
>>> go-daddy-in-1-day/>
>>>
>>>
>>> Seems like I good idea.  I'll move mine to tucows.
>>>
>>> Adam
>