ICANN Moves Against GoDaddy Domain Lockdowns

An anonymous reader writes "ICANN is finally taking action against Domain Registrar GoDaddy's controversial 'lockdowns'. GoDaddy has long had a policy of 'locking down' domain names for 60 days after a customer updated their contact details. This put customers in a Catch 22 position: ICANN requires customers keep their contact details up to date, or risk having the domain forfeited. Yet during the lockdown period the customer is prevented from transferring the domain from GoDaddy to another registrar. If the lockdown ran over the domain's expiry date, customers were forced to renew with GoDaddy or lose the domain. ICANN proposes to ban this practice. ICANN who is charged with overseeing the Internet has long been accused of giving domain registrars a free ride. But recently after ICANN failed to discipline Network Solutions over a front-running scam, they found themselves both on the wrong end of a lawsuit by lawyers Kabateck Brown Kellner. Is ICANN's action a signal of increased vigilance in policing registrars, or is it a PR move paving the way for a complete removal of US Government oversight?"

Comments

GoDaddy and the spam you received today

[Arrogant-Bastard]

GoDaddy is the single largest registrar of spammers, phishers, and the like. On the surface, that might sound odd, given that GoDaddy has published policies that say they'll take action, but the reality is that those are propaganda, no better. GoDaddy's enforcement of its own policies against abusers has been laughable: it's pretty obvious to everyone that they only do so with reluctance and in the face of bad PR. (See Usenet's news.admin.net-abuse.email for many discussions on this.)

This really isn't surprising, though: spammers and phishers buy domains by the hundreds, if not thousands, which makes them excellent customers. And if you're GoDaddy, you need that income (among other reasons) to fund your offensively sexist commercials.

How does this tie in? It's all about profits. Profits for GoDaddy are maximized by selling as many domains as possible and then holding them for ransom. Given how weak and slow ICANN has been, this has been a viable strategy for a number of years; it remains to be seen if something meaningful will actually happen in this case, or whether GoDaddy will just continue cementing its reputation as one of the scummiest registrars out there.

Re:GoDaddy not the only one

[capnkr]

Yes, NS does it too, it has happened to me. BUT...

If you tell NS that you are trying/going to move the domain due to their (exorbitant) pricing, they will offer you a new price, much more in line with what other registrars like GoDaddy charge ($8.75/yr in my case). So basically, problem solved...

I do think the lock-down policy is a simple ploy to retain customers, no matter who implements it.