Law – Page 6 – Steven Savage

Oh Daddy – A roundup of the latest GoDaddy/SOPA mess

December 27, 2011 by Steven Savage

Where to start. We'll I'll start by mentioning there were other issues capturing my attention, but I am merely one man, albeit a handsome and charming one with a killer fedora.

Anyway, so let's see where we are.

GoDaddy has been accused of slowing domain name transfers, mostly by happy rival Namecheap who's been benefiting from their troubles. GoDaddy has responded that they have not exactly slowed them, but put some limits in place due to "nefarious" activity. I'm honestly not sure how much they're hurting, but they seem concerned – and really, using the word "nefarious" is bad PR.

It appears GoDaddy has been happy to turn off domains before for minor conditions. This is one complaint, but it's interesting to read. If there are more issues like this they may come to light.

There's an attempt to organize a "Dump GoDaddy Day" on the 29th of December.

Yeah, I know.

Takeaways:

I'm not sure how much this is hurting GoDaddy money-wise. I've not seen reliable long-term numbers (well long-term for how short-term this is). It is clear they are at least worried.
They've gotten a black eye in the internet-savvy community – essentially their bad action has become meme. This is nearly impossible to recover from. They may not be defeated or destroyed, but they will be marked.
The domain-name transfer throttling doesn't necessarily have to be true – people will assume it is due to their actions and attitude. That's a sign of bad PR.
Speaking of PR, theirs is abysmal. This is a great example of what not to do, PR-wise.
If the story about the domain closing noted above is true, and other stories are out there that are similar, it will fuel further bad will towards them. Wait to see if there are other disgruntled people out there.
Seeing how NameCheap jumped on this is a reminder of how fast business can change when so much is electronic. You can be riding on top and then get upset very, very quickly – because people can take advantage of your problems/mistakes/stupidity very fast.

– Steven Savage

More SOPA Updates

December 24, 2011 by Steven Savage

It just keeps coming despite the impending holiday.

You may have heard that GoDaddy backed down on sopa. Actually they didn't, they're just waffling.
Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia fame announced the Wikipedia domain names are being moved from GoDady.
Several companies and law firms want off the list of SOPA supporters, and some wonder why they were on there in the first place.
As a reminder, here's that list again.
Just do a check of hastags #sopa or #GoDaddy to see the Twitter Chatter.

So le'ts get to my roundup.

GoDaddy isn't just being smacked, it seems they're being made an example of. I don't know their future, but if you work there, you're probably going to want to keep an open mind on new employment – and remember being there may now tarnish you. I haven't seen this level of hatred for awhile.
SOPA awareness is increasing all the time – and the GoDaddy thing fuels it. Getting SOPA/PIPA through Congress is going to become next to impossible, though I do expect people to try. Stay aware of this.
There are more holes in the "Pro-SOPA/PIPA" alliance than we thought and more are forming. I'm also thinking this makes the US Chamber of Commerce look even worse – and they've been in political crosshairs for awhile for their positions and backing. There may be further political fallout for them, and believe me they're not liked in some areas.
This has increased awareness of how the U.S. government functions – and doesn't. It could become a catalyst or a bigger political issue.
Some companies took a beating in this (most noteably Google). Now's a chance for a turnaround. SOPA non-support could be a powerful political/marketing/reputational tool.
Despite SOPA support some companies are going to get forgiven pretty quickly, let's be honest about that.

– Steven Savage

The Battlelines in SOPA Get Clearer

December 22, 2011 by Steven Savage

Looks like the whole SOPA mess is heating up, and we're seeing some pretty deep lines in the sand get drawn. The list that came out

Paul Graham of YCombinator has disinvited SOPA supporters to his YCombinator's Demo Days. Take it from a Silicon Valley Guy, that's a real slap.
GoDaddy being part of the pro-SOPA crowd was apparently a surprise (and disappointment) to many. Ben Huh, the CEO and founder of Cheezburger network is threatening to pull all of their domains from GoDaddy - in fact it's mentioned on one of his sites. There's talk of a mass moving of domains on Reddit. Also GoDaddy's position on SOPA is stated at their website, but as they're reposts that seem more like political statements than addressing concerns I'm not exactly confident they get how angry people are (or they don't care).
As people dig into SOPA it's inadvisability is making it even more of a laughingstock. Say, the fact it could ban software the Navy made to get around censorship. People are digging into it even deeper, and with the rage and the time on their hands, expect more to come (there's already anti-SOPA plugins for Firefox).

That single list has produced quite the reaction – and I doubt we're done yet. Actually, I think it's probably tame as it's the holiday season.

So analysis

Of course keep following this.
A mass movement of domains out of GoDaddy could become serious since, well, GoDaddy pretty much handles domains. They've had past controversies, but this could mark them in a destructive manner, especially if their support goes "meme" or inspires people to dig up dirt on them. If you work there you'll want to watch this carefully as it may affect your job.
The GoDaddy issue may inspire other registrars to take sides (my guess is "not supporting SOPA" is a good bet).
We'll see more battleines be drawn I'm sure. The awareness is increasing – as is the anger – and the list that was released gives people viable targets for their rage (especially if any of those companies were ones they hated beforehand). The entire SOPA mess has "gone meme" – and it also means it won't go away even if SOPA goes away.
This is revealing something I've suspected for awhile but have had trouble articulating – there are some businesses for whom openeness/communication/freedom are built into their business model, and others where it's at best optional. We're seeing a battle of approaches to business here (among many other things). Hey, you economics writers could do a lot with this.

– Steven Savage