The collective group Anonymous just released a video, part of which contains a warning, “Together, we will strategically remove Go Daddy from the internet.”
This links to a list of companies supporting the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and those entities should listen very carefully to the public’s angst because people are transferring their sites from GoDaddy’s in droves.
Anonymous states:
“We are Anonymous.
We have taken notice to your support of the United States Government’s attempt to censor and control the internet. We are talking about your support of the Stop Online Privacy Act. The fact that a company that sells domains supports a bill that will block ISP’s from allowing their users to access domains is unbelievable.
You have made yourself an enemy of the internet, and an enemy to Anonymous.
This december the 29th, we urge all users of Go Daddy to stop using their service and move to another domain host.
Ben Huh, CEO of the Cheezburger domains, has already pledged to make the switch; and there are many others that will soon be following the same path.
Together, we will strategically remove Go Daddy from the internet.
We are Anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Go Daddy, Expect us.”
As proof this boycott is going strong, listed on Reddit, thousands upon thousands of sites are transferring their (crappy) hosting service, with other hosts giving discounts.
SelfProdigy writes:
I just finished writing GoDaddy a letter stating why I’m moving my small businesses 51 domains away from them, as well as my personal domains. I also pointed out that i transferred over 300 domains to them as a director of IT for a major American company.
I’m suggesting Dec 29th as move your domain away from GoDaddy day because of their support of SOPA. Who’s with me?
EDIT (Added Sources & Statements)
Source: “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.”
Name Cheap messaged me with a special discount code for reddit users: BYEBYEGD I’m not taking any positions i’m just reporting it. I asked him to give reddit users a better deal.
EDIT: Name.com messaged me with this. use “NODADDY” for 10% off transfer ins (COM, NET, ORG, TV, INFO, IN, US, CO, ME & TEL) and also receive 40% off any of our hosting plans. They also oppose sopa:http://blog.name.com/2011/12/getting-on-our-sopa-box-and-saving-you-money/
EDIT: HostGator is doing 50% off Shared / Reseller / VPS first month. Coupon code: NOSOPAhttp://blog.hostgator.com/2011/12/22/sopa-must-die/
EDIT: http://blog.easydns.org/2011/12/22/how-sopa-will-destroy-the-internet/ Another anti sopa registrar
EDIT: Contact GoDaddy Send your emails here: oop@godaddy.com (This is the “office of the president”, the highest non-corporate level you can talk to.) suggestions@godaddy.com (If this gets flooded they will take notice.) – from a fellow reddit user. I also emailed suggestions@godaddy.com before i ever posted this.
Update: Looks like we got their attention: They posted this http://support.godaddy.com/godaddy/go-daddys-position-on-sopa today. It’s from “october” but it was posted today.
NEW EDIT: I’ve been talking with a few organizations that suggest we keep the boycott going until, GoDaddy announces they are no longer in favor of the SOPA act. They are working to setup a domain, with facts, counters, and more. The holiday’s is going to make it a bit tough as our resources are limited because of family events but i will keep posting as it comes through.
UPDATE: Cheezburger’s Ben Huh: If GoDaddy Supports SOPA, We’re Taking Our 1000+ Domains Elsewherehttp://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/cheezburgers-ben-huh-if-godaddy-supports-sopa-were-taking-our-1000-domains-elsewhere/
UPDATE: Dont PISS OFF REDDIT:http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111222/13292217173/sopa-supporters-learning-slowly-that-pissing-off-reddit-is-bad-idea.shtml
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLING ME A LIAR…. HERE IS MY OUTLOOK INBOX http://i.imgur.com/cPkll.jpg
FINAL UPDATE:
Pledge your support to boycott Godaddy here. http://godaddyboycott.org
GoDaddy writes their support of this heinous bill:
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
UPDATE:
Someone is listening:
In changing its position, Go Daddy remains steadfast in its promise to support security and stability of the Internet. In an effort to eliminate any confusion about its reversal on SOPA though, Jones has removed blog postings that had outlined areas of the bill Go Daddy did support.”Go Daddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of third parties, and will continue to do so in the future,” Jones said.
OpBlackout: A list of what you can do now.
