share
Meta Stack OverflowWill Stack Overflow boycott GoDaddy because of their support for SOPA?
[+475] [2] Daniel Serodio
[2011-12-22 20:31:33]
[ discussion status-completed sopa politics ]
[ http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/116891/will-stack-overflow-boycott-godaddy-because-of-their-support-for-sopa ] [DELETED]

GoDaddy has apparently withdrawn their support for SOPA. Read link for more info:
Go Daddy’s Position on SOPA, from their website [1]; it is obviously yet to be seen whether they will continue to hold this stance as proceedings continue with SOPA. Be aware.

A partial excerpt from the statement Go Daddy filed with the House of Representatives: [2]

Our Support for SOPA

Go Daddy has a long history of supporting federal legislation directed toward combating illegal conduct on the Internet. For example, our company strongly supported the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, the Protect Our Children Act of 2008, and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP). Go Daddy has always supported both government and private industry efforts to identify and disable all types of illegal activity on the Internet. It is for these reasons that I’m still struggling with why some Internet companies oppose PROTECT IP and SOPA. There is no question that we need these added tools to counteract illegal foreign sites that are falling outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law enforcement. And there is clearly more that we could all be doing to adequately address the problems that exist.

Jeff has said Stack Overflow uses GoDaddy [3] as its DNS provider. There's a thread on Reddit [4] calling for "Dec 29th as move your domain away from GoDaddy day".

Will Stack Overflow join this boycott of GoDaddy?

(36) I don't have any domains with GoDaddy, but doing this would definitely send a strong message to them. - uɐɯsO uɐɥʇɐN
(2) I've been lazily putting off consolidating my peripheral hosting accounts from GoDaddy to Server Intellect for some time. Looks like this delay ends 12/29. I think I'll also move my domains while I'm at it. - Adam Rackis
(1) Who else sells them as cheap as they do? I'd do it but I'm cheap. Alternatives!? (P.S. By cheap, I mean using the coupon codes to get .com domains for like $7.49/year.) - animuson
(42) @animuson: Cheap != (Quality && Good Ethics) - uɐɯsO uɐɥʇɐN
(2) @George: But I care more about cheap then quality and good ethics. I go to Taco Bell for cheap food, not because the customer service is excellent. - animuson
(13) @animuson: Well that's not going to help defeat this bill :) - uɐɯsO uɐɥʇɐN
@animuson For a whopping $7.50 more (per year, 14.4 cents per week) you can register your domains at Server Intellect. serverintellect.com/products/domains - Adam Rackis
I remembered that SE has links to GoDaddy after reading the Reddit thread. Looks like you beat meh to asking this question. - tombull89
I'm with @TheGhostofChristmasPast ; That link doesn't seem to say what the OP is sugggesting GoDaddy's position is. - Andrew's a Unitato
(9) @animuson There are other low-cost registrars with lower suck quotients (NameCheap is very price-competitive, Gandi is more expensive, but has an excellent reputation.) Sometimes if we want to vote with our dollars it means spending a few more per year... - voretaq7
(3) We should also boycott anyone who supports the so-called "net neutrality". Oh, uh, whoops... - Won't
@ಠ_ಠWon't - yeah, Jeff is horribly misguided about net neutrality. But the stupidity of telling company X that they can't purchase dedicated pipes for better service to their paying customers pales in comparison to SOPA. - Adam Rackis
(2) It's probably worth noting that GoDaddy is currently running advertisements for their hosting services on Server Fault - that might complicate matters. - Shane Madden
@ShaneMadden That could definitely complicate things, but I like to reference the editorial stance of The Nation magazine in cases like that: "An ad isn't an endorsement." (Long version: "We'll run your ads even if most of our readers totally disagree with you. You give us money, our users are bright enough to decide for themselves if they want to use your services.") - voretaq7
(2) This is atrocious. Last time I looked in the history books, the USA is a democracy. Will of the people and all that. Economic warfare was never part of the decision making process before. I'll put my best leg forward and talk to my congress man. The day a company like SE or Godaddy is going to have an actual say in the way I use the internet is the day I'll have to look for a better home. Well, island. - Uphill Luge
(23) @UphillLuge - are you trolling or are you serious? In America people are free to patronize or not patronize businesses for whatever reasons they choose. If you, me, or StackExchange disagree with a position of a certain company, we're free to take our dollars elsewhere. That's not "economic warfare", that's just how a free market economy works. - Adam Rackis
(1) @AdamRackis - yes, absolutely trolling. Inevitable after 27 upvotes. An aspect of democracy that is modeled somewhat well in meta, dissent is possible in comments. - Uphill Luge
@AdamRackis I can't use server intellect, there's a damned chat box that chases me down their home page. :( - user133440
(9) @animuson sorry to say it but it's exactly that "money trumps ethics" mindset which is the reason SOPA might pass and why so this country/planet is so utterly messed up in so many ways. Way to be part of the problem. - indorock
(1) @indorock: I don't have any money to trump those ethics. You're talking to an unemployed nerd who gets off on fiddling with websites. I use GoDaddy because that's what I can afford at the moment. If you're willing to donate money to me, I'd be happy to switch to an alternate service. That's not going to happen though, is it? Be happy to know though, I am considering transferring to Namecheap with what little money I have. All but one of my domains anyways, since one of them was just registered 7 days ago and is not yet transferable. - animuson
(8) read question title Oh, this will surely be closed as-- status: planned I love all of you. - Ben Brocka
For those wondering, imgur is also planning to leave GoDaddy. - ændrük
(1) @uphill luge. America is a Republic not a democracy. - user175718
(1) byedaddy.org for all the big domains still using Godaddy - Chris S
Why is this a CW, and what is going on? - Emil
@animuson Really, can't afford $2 more a year to prevent the passing of a bill that will likely shut your domain down. I mean, I'd love it to pass and watch your domain get shut down while you're still paying to GoDaddy simply because one of your Google advertisement links linked to a page that linked to a page that linked to a page in China with download links that could potentially contain IP theft. Then, all your $2 will belong to Gov, as well as people who aren't even American. All to protect a dying industry. And this is not economic warfare??? - Lee Louviere
It seems like Stackoverflow.com is no longer registered at GoDaddy.com! Big thumbs up. - Emil
[+813] [2011-12-22 23:07:03] Joel Spolsky [ACCEPTED]

Yes.


(147) Thanks for standing up for what's right guys! - voretaq7
(100) :O!!! I can't believe you used a filter bypass! I should flag this for moderator attention! - animuson
(4) Go Daddy no longer supporting SOPA. Disclaimer: I already moved my domain from Go Daddy and am in no way affiliated with them. godaddy.com/newscenter/… - Brian
(6) This question should be closed as "too localized"; as per godaddy.com/newscenter/release-view.aspx?news_item_id=378 (mentioned in @Brian comment) this refers to "a specific moment in time", a fact that renders the question worthless. - casperOne
(21) @casperOne Yes, but years from now, it will spur the question, "What was GoDaddy?" - LarsTech
(62) Cut them off anyway. Yes, they've given up on supporting SOPA, but they still want to. They're only letting it go because people boycotted, not because they think it's a bad idea. Continue hurting them. - Nicol Bolas
If the boycott or move goes ahead anyway, would this include the other sites that you use GoDaddy for (whois shows Coding Horror, Joel on Software and FogCreek as Go Daddy-registered)? - tombull89
(20) GoDaddy changed (but did NOT reverse) their position on SOPA. I'll note that they still support the idea of the bill and just want "revisions" to it, I still consider them in support. Is the move still planned or not? - Ben Brocka
(3) @BenBrocka I hope it is. - George Stocker
(15) Godaddy has a history of voluntarily helping with the kind of shit SOPA would require. Their retraction is a joke and it's absurd that SEI and so many other generally well-informed techies were still using them in the first place. - Jeremy Banks
(19) Continue as planned. Go Daddy is still an official SOPA supporter in US Congress. They published some bullshit on their blog to try stop the boycott, but they are still a SOPA promoter in Congress. - smmv
Is this still happening, or did you change your minds, @Joel? - Emil
(3) @Emil, whois queries for the trilogy still show GoDaddy as the registar - Mike Pennington
(3) @AaronFleming seems like everything is with Name.com now, instead of Go Daddy. - Oak
1
[+40] [2011-12-23 20:24:47] Adam Rackis

It looks like GoDaddy has reversed its position on SOPA not changed their position. While there were initial reports [1] that GoDaddy had backed down [2], it turns out this was more or less straight BS [3]

I'm posting this for completeness of information and to neither defend nor demean them in any way. in the hopes that others will join in my pulling their business from this company on 12/29.

[1] http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/12/23/go-daddy-chokes-on-the-internets-vitriol-pulls-support-for-sopa/
[2] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/victory-boycott-forces-godaddy-to-drop-its-support-for-sopa.ars
[3] http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/23/godaddy-ceo-there-has-to-be-consensus-about-the-leadership-of-the-internet-community/

That article seems a bit subjective, especially in its tone towards Go Daddy, don't you think? - Purag
(3) Would you prefer Ars Technica? - Pops
(4) Frankly, this is too little, too late. We need to set an example that this behaviour risks large, permanent damage. - dlitz
(1) @dlitz the flip side is that you will set an example that a company changing their position when they realize they are wrong doesn't matter, so why bother getting egg on their face. - NickC
(16) @Renesis They didn't even really change their position, and there's no reason to think that they have realized that they were wrong. They just did some minor PR damage-control. On the other hand, they testified before Congress that this would be a good idea, and actively took part in creating SOPA. I'd rather send the message that doing anything to create a national censorship infrastructure (!) can result in the permanent loss of millions of dollars of annual revenue. - dlitz
(3) As @dlitz said, they didn't really change their position. Under the current draft, they would be exempt, but they remain officially supporting the bill. reddit.com/r/technology/comments/npair/… - camurgo
Marked you down as it turns out this is just FUD/astroturfing - Chris S
(1) @ChrisS - I'd been meaning to update this answer...Christmas and all...thanks for the reminder :) - Adam Rackis
(1) It looks like the PR machine at work. I'm not really politically charged by the SOPA debate but they are full of crap really - Chris S
2