The GoDaddy Saga Continues

First time accepted submitter wbr1 writes "Domain registrar Namecheap is accusing GoDaddy of violating ICANN rules and hindering domain owners from moving their domains to another registrar. They are allegedly doing this by submitting incomplete information to the new registrar, making it difficult to process the move." Adds user bs0d3: "Godaddy has responded to these allegations today and insist that their practice of rate limiting Whois queries is standard practice to combat Whois abuse. Furthermore, they accuse Namecheap of playing foul because they released a statement before ever contacting godaddy directly to resolve these issues."

Comments

You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

by playing fair.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[houstonbofh]

That is the truth. I had to consolidate registrars for a company. It was a challenge to get them all off GoDaddy. But it was a real battle to get them off NameCheap. For some I had to renew them with NameCheap before they would move them!

Pot, let me introduce you to this kettle here. I think you may have a lot in common.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[LifesABeach]

GoDaddy's "throttling" of account information speaks volumes. Is GoDaddy's business model fundamentally corrupt? You have to love the irony.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[helix2301]

Moving a domain in general is a pain no matter who you use just because of propagation time, design change issues, e-mail, MX records, exc.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

How close to expiration were they when you tried to transfer them? There are rules in place to prevent some activity on an almost expired domain (whois updates, etc.).

Re:You don't get to be #1

[shentino]

Takes one to know one.

Also, I doubt the pot calling the kettle black gives EITHER of them a free pass on actually being black.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that the anthem of a corrupt culture?

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Amouth]

no - moving a domain is easy - moving name servers isn't.. if you host your own name servers then it is is only a matter of few minutes to move your domain registrar

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Gideon Wells]

I thought they got to #1 by a two pronged method:
1) Relatively cheap
2) By being the most BRAWNDOTASTIC company around with bikini babes and their CEO riding around on a custom Orange County Chopper when he isn't hunting down elephants personally.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[houstonbofh]

I was six months in, and still could not move the domains. That is not propagation time, that is a registrar playing games.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[houstonbofh]

Between 2 weeks and nine months. Some of the short ones went quick, and some of one not due for almost a year were still hung up 6 months later.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

Racist!

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Grishnakh]

Exactly. And we should know now from history what happens to corrupt cultures; look at Sodom and Gomorrah, Rome, etc. (Not saying that S&G was literally true, but if you read the Biblical account, they weren't destroyed because of homosexuality as the homophobes would have you believe, it was because the people in those cities were all a bunch of assholes. This should sound familiar to anyone living in America.)

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

Not saying that S&G was literally true, it was because the people in those cities were all a bunch of assholes.

Were you saying that with tongue in cheek, err... I mean... wait...

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

The color has little to do with moral or ethical leanings. It has to do with both being made of cast iron and refusing to recognize their selves in what they complain about.

Sort of a, "Do what I say, not what I do." moment.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[shentino]

The kettle doesn't get a free pass on being black just because the pot is too black to call them on it.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[sneakyimp]

I'm currently on GoDaddy and have felt rather dirty ever since I heard about their CEO, Bob Parsons, hunting an elephant. I also hate their interface -- too cluttered and too much marketing/advertising/crap in there. I'd like to know a good, reputable, registrar that I could move to. Anyone have suggestions?

Re:You don't get to be #1

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't remember what registrar it was, but I was helping a client move a domain to another registrar and they charged a $45 administration fee to transfer your domain away. I thought that wasn't allowed but I checked the ICANN site, it is.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[plonk420]

i could care less about parsons, but i hate hate hate all the upselling. however, nobody else was selling .ME domains at the time. maybe i've just been spoiled by starting from the hosting side with other companies and not seeing so much sleezy feeling tactics.

But of course they would

[mihalisgr]

If they create artificial means so that their customers would have trouble moving away from them, that would mean more customers, more publicity, a more tech-savvy image, robustness and.. Oh wait...

Namecheap is a good registrar

[InterestingFella]

I have used many registrars and Namecheap has always been the best one. Their interface is also super clean and efficient. Their prices are one of the most competitive ones, they offer free private registration, dns hosting and everything you need. And did I say their interface is super clean? You get everything done easily and quickly, without them trying to shove extra services as premium prices down to you. If you have ever tried to register domain with GoDaddy you know what I'm talking about - the whole registration process itself is pain in the ass and you need to keep unticking all those extra services they try to offer you.

With my years of experience and managing over hundred domains, I can only recommend Namecheap.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

I have used many registrars and Namecheap has always been the best one. Their interface is also super clean and efficient. Their prices are one of the most competitive ones, they offer free private registration, dns hosting and everything you need. And did I say their interface is super clean? You get everything done easily and quickly, without them trying to shove extra services as premium prices down to you. If you have ever tried to register domain with GoDaddy you know what I'm talking about - the whole registration process itself is pain in the ass and you need to keep unticking all those extra services they try to offer you.

With my years of experience and managing over hundred domains, I can only recommend Namecheap.

cheers, got 152 domains with godaddy and they're moving.

ref namecheap, do they do DNS too and is it any good? Had problems with a domain DNS in godaddy before xmas. Nightmare.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[InterestingFella]

Yes, you can use either their hosted DNS or your webhost/own server. Configuration is really easy and fast too, but still offers all the advanced options too. registrar-servers.com is their domain for hosted DNS, and I've never had problems with them (and they're one of the largest DNS hosters, too).

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[elsurexiste]

Try again. :)

In this /. comment InterestingFella said Namecheap and Gandi were good providers, therefore you can't use it. It's viral advertising from the past! lol

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[KingSkippus]

Maybe it looks like a viral advertisement to you, but I think it's on the level for a couple of reasons. First, there are more testimonials below pitching Namecheap as a good registrar, and second (and more importantly), I've used Namecheap as a registrar myself for around six years for 18 domains related to free gaming sites I run. The OP is right, they have a great, simple interface and I've never had any trouble with them. They offer great service for a great price, and they Just Work.

If you like a different registrar better, then more power to you; I'm glad you've found someone you like and feel offers good service. But what exactly makes you think that the OP is an "obvious viral advertisement" but that your link isn't? Frankly, reading the content of your page, yours sounds more like an obvious viral advertisement (that is, the obvious attempt to grab attention using blatant profanity) than the OP simply listing a few reasons why he likes his registrar.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Airborne-ng]

Well, I'm sold...just transferred my godaddy to namecheap. Ad campaign or not, it worked. Nothing follows..

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[houstonbofh]

I used them too, and was very happy right up to when I tried to move the domains off. Why the move? Consolidation, but mainly because the foreign domain proxy office service could not be removed when we finally opened and office in that country. (Kinda expensive for some countries...) Then I found the problems. The are not actually the registrar for many of the foreign country domains, and they have some real problems moving your domains away. In some cases, I had to renew for another year, with another full year of the proxy office which I no longer needed, just to get my domain back. I got to know all the techs, since they only have a handful. Nice guys, but powerless in this case. Much more pleased with SafeNames. More expensive, but for a reason.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[wygit]

I switched to namecheap a couple of years ago when Gina Trapani of Lifehacker recommended it.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[jez9999]

Just to add another testimonial: I use Namecheap for my 20-odd domains and they have been fine; easy administration, prompting me when I needed to renew them, decent prices, decent customer service.

I haven't tried to move any domains away from Namecheap, so I'm not sure whether they're a bit dodgy there; it'd be a shame if they are.

Their strong anti-SOPA stance also gives them brownie points in my view.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to sound like the idiot standing in the corner shouting "me too!"

But I as well had transitioned all my domains from godaddy (which had them in the first place simply for being pretty cheap back in the early 00's!) over to Namecheap.

In two years with Namecheap, I must admit: aside from a yearly call offering me "Privacy guard", they keep to them selves and enjoy collecting their domain registration fees simply with little hassle.

I too, would strongly recommend them without a moments hesitation.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

I use firefox on an old ibook G4 to transfer information on the internet. I have no idea what nameservers or domains are or how they're hosted, but I love Namecheap. If I had any of those things I'd use Namecheap, and I heartily recommend them to all my friends.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[bill_mcgonigle]

You get everything done easily and quickly, without them trying to shove extra services as premium prices down to you.

I just tried transferring one domain to see what they hype was about, and I have to agree.

My current registrar used to fit this description but in the past couple years they've added so much upsell to the site that they're losing me as a volume customer.

I have to wade through all their stuff about how they're "very excited" about their social media efforts, and besides all the un-checking of upsell, they recently changed their primary domain name, which broke all my browser form filling. I still think they're a decent company, but I don't need that kind of cognitive load to renew a domain.

That NameCheap is almost half the price doesn't hurt, but I wouldn't have switched if the other company had left well enough alone. I hope NameCheap understands what they've got and they leave well enough alone.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

Just asking, why does Namecheap install outdated operating systems? According to their VPS page, they install Fedora 12. That hasn't been in service for almost 3 years. I talked to a hosting rep, and they said if i wanted something more up to date, that i would have to install it myself. Seriously? An operating system that hasn't received security updates for 2 years? But their TOS says nothing is their fault? They have a lot of features I would love to use, esp PostgreSQL and NameCheap API system for modifying DNS on the fly. Comparison

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[X0563511]

SafeNames? Yea, not a price to be found on their site... unless it's behind the Account Wall.

Fuck that. They want my business, then give me some prices and less 'feel good' PHB fluff text.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[Artifex]

Yeah, they do DNS for you if you want them to, and they even support Dynamic DNS, which was a bonus for me. (I hear name.com also supports it)
The sucky part's gonna be re-entering all that zone info for all 152 domains. Make sure you copy all your info off the old DNS servers first, so it goes faster.
(I just switched to NameCheap last week, myself)

WhoreDaddy

[unity100]

As whory as a whore can be. With all due respect and reference to the whores.

That is not something new godaddy started doing just recently. They had the habit of pulling such shit for close to a decade now. the only provider that is FAR worse, is 1&1 in all its incarnations. I had to bail out numerous clients out of their hands - both godaddy and 1&1. some, i wasnt able to bail out, and these were generally those with 1&1.

The array of problems they cause ? it ranges from what you read here, to locking your domain down, preventing you from paying for renewal and sending you to collections over $9-10 a year. Just google it.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[InterestingFella]

Please, don't compare GoDaddy to prostitutes. At least the services prostitutes offer are honest.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[1s44c]

That is not something new godaddy started doing just recently. They had the habit of pulling such shit for close to a decade now. the only provider that is FAR worse, is 1&1 in all its incarnations. I had to bail out numerous clients out of their hands - both godaddy and 1&1. some, i wasnt able to bail out, and these were generally those with 1&1.

I once registered a domain with 1&1. Never again. Everyone should be warned to never go near those scumbags.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[nman64]

But just like prostitutes, if you aren't careful and just go with the cheapest, most-used offering (GoDaddy), you might end up with more than you bargained for.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[se7en11]

Just to throw another opinion into the mix. I've used 1&1 for over 6 years now and have had very little issues. We currently have 4 dedicated servers and around 30 domain names registered with them. They are a big company and you don't really get that personal touch when you call support but we've been happy with them.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but both suck.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[PopeRatzo]

At least the services prostitutes offer are honest.

It wasn't honest at the St. Anne's hotel in New Orleans on April 18, 1997.

Just saying...

Re:WhoreDaddy

[truthsearch]

the only provider that is FAR worse, is 1&1

I know this is just one person's opinion, but I've been using 1&1 for years and I've been very happy with them. I have about 20 domains there and never had a single problem.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[houstonbofh]

That is the point... Once there is a problem, they will not care. You only find the quality of a company when things go wrong.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Thavilden]

If someone were looking for a registrar, how would we look for one to be a 1&1 incarnation? Is there a list or do they just have a common interface or something?

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

Also have to say I support 1&1 and I have cancelled and moved domains with no issues. Most the 'horror' stories I read about them usually involved customers not paying attention to the fine print and getting pissy when 1&1 holds them to the contract they agreed upon.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[NJRoadfan]

I personally had to deal with both companies....1&1 in particular was UGH with that interface.... plus I had to deal with the whole RegisterFly fiasco a few years ago. ICANN'T still hasn't gotten their act together. The whole domain industry is filled with shady characters. Web hosting is too, but at least you have the option to roll your own server if needed.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[kyrio]

That's interesting. I've noticed, in these articles about domain or hosting providers, that low UID users were the ones recommending the worst providers. Does your company buy low UID /. accounts and use them in articles like this, for damage control PR for their clients?

Re:WhoreDaddy

[kyrio]

Just wondering.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[kyrio]

Some signs of a shit registrar:

* Trying to sell you things you don't need constantly, even after you've finished your order.

* A cluttered control panel interface that also tries to sell at every chance.

* A confusing site in general that makes it hard to figure out what you're actually buying, or adds things to your cart that you have to manually remove.

* Constant deals for ridiculous discounts - if they are providing a good service, how can they afford to sell their domains for an average of $3 each? The answer to that would be that they've already made more money that they've spent, but you still have staff costs to take care of. When you have more domains to manage that means more staff needed to handle the issues of the domain owners. Also, more staff to manage those domains and other bullshit services you provide, such as servers for website hosting, DNS management, etc.

In general, you can search for forums that deal with domains and read customer reviews. There might even be topics dedicated to listing the most recommended providers.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

Not true. In fact, half the prostitutes I've encountered have either been cops or they pull a gun on me and take all of my money without rendering any service.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. They have horrible business practices and screw over their customers.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[truthsearch]

Interesting theory, but you could easily look at my comment history and sig link and see I'm a software developer. No PR spin here.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[CanEHdian]

Please use .govDaddy if you want to refer to that company; they're in bed with the .gov and the "Who's yo Daddy?!" attitude.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[kyrio]

Okay, if your primary line of business is a software developer, I can see how you may not have inquired into other service providers. I'm assuming you just picked the cheapest registrar on the front page of your search.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

Ehm. I'm on GoDaddy because some time ago, I'd gone w/ someone even cheaper (RegisterFly) who did many bad things, for example, just before going out of business, pointing my domain at a spam/scam site.

GoDaddy was given control of my domain by ICANN, and I never bothered to move it.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[LVSlushdat]

the only provider that is FAR worse, is 1&1

I know this is just one person's opinion, but I've been using 1&1 for years and I've been very happy with them. I have about 20 domains there and never had a single problem.

I *had* a couple domains with 1and1 since 2001, plus their basic hosting, for my personal domain/email I got tired of them continually increasing the cost of their basic hosting package, so I cancelled the hosting, and moved one of the domains over to DNSExit and cancelled the other which had been unused for nearly a year.. EasyPeasy.. I got no static from 1and1, they just asked why I was leaving, I told them their prices were too high. I signed up for hosted email for my personal domain on DNSExit for a whole $20/yr. I now just point DNSExits dns to one of my vps's to run my personal website and I just forward my personal email address to my gmail account, where google chews up the spam and leaves just the good stuff behind. I swear I was getting overwhelmed by spam when my email was hosted by 1and1. They claimed to have a spam filter but it was piss-poor compared to googles... Bottom line: don't know where all the venom for 1and1 is coming from.. I used em for 10 years with no complaints.. My personal domain transferred with no problems...

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Aighearach]

The whole domain industry is filled with shady characters. Web hosting is too, but at least you have the option to roll your own server if needed.

Or you can just get a linode VPS.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

But they don't kiss.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Killjoy_NL]

Well you're still screwed either way :)

Re:WhoreDaddy

[1s44c]

That's interesting. I've noticed, in these articles about domain or hosting providers, that low UID users were the ones recommending the worst providers. Does your company buy low UID /. accounts and use them in articles like this, for damage control PR for their clients?

Most likely people with low UID's last setup domains a while ago and companies that start good often turn bad. I know a lot of companies I was very happy with in the past are not worth going near now. Having said that I can't remember a time when 1&1 didn't suck.

Of course it's possible that marketing companies are buying low UID accounts too.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[elrous0]

Please, don't compare GoDaddy to prostitutes. At least the services prostitutes offer are honest.

Prostitute's ads are also a lot less sleazy.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[Muramas95]

WIN

Re:WhoreDaddy

[kyrio]

Yes, that was also another possibility that I was considering. There's also potential for the person just picking the cheapest site off of the first page of search results for his first domain, but then it comes down to being the type of consumer that GoDaddys and 1&1s love. A biggest-ad-gets-the-business type of customer.

This guy hasn't replied, so either he doesn't check /. much or I was right. I referenced this post to a different low UID user who uses 1&1 - he gave an explanation in reply.

Re:WhoreDaddy

[alexo]

I've been using 1&1 for quite some time (ever since enom decided to proactively treat some emails passing through their DNS system as spam and silently drop them). Granted, I only have 2 domains with them and I use a 3rd party DNS services, but I never had any particular problems.
Would you care to enlighten me?

GoDaddy is the liar!

[Anonymous Coward]

GoDaddy tries point the finger elsewhere; BUT... how do they explain that many of us are seeing non-.com domains transferred without much delay, YET... our .com domains are being taken down? This CHILDISH response is yet more reason for that registrar to be taken out behind the woodshed!! If they can't stand the heat from their STUPID stance and meet it with more STUPIDITY, WHY would ANYONE do business with them???

Who to believe?

[SJHillman]

I've heard a lot of great things about Namecheap from customers and third party reviewers. I'm considering moving one of my domains there to give them a try.

I've heard a lot of bad things about GoDaddy from customers and third party reviewers. I'd never consider giving them business - however, I do use them to find if a domain I want is already registered because their domain search is faster than a lot of other sites. I also used to work for a company that purchased SSL certificates from GoDaddy. Using their website is not fun and their customer service less so.

All things considered, I'd have to believe Namecheap over GoDaddy, regardless of how hot Danica Patrick is.

Re:Who to believe?

[vlm]

All things considered, I'd have to believe Namecheap over GoDaddy, regardless of how hot Danica Patrick is.

Yeah regarding her, that is just weird. In the specific area that godaddy operates in, that being wanna be models who also have a promotional accessory line of domain registration, are there any other hotties out there with a DNS registrar as a marketing gimmic who I could transfer my domains to? I think having her own domain registrar is much trendier than the traditional model accessory line of clothes and perfumes and small dogs in purses and adopted foreign babies and such. The netsol CEO guy just isn't doing it for me, I'm sure he's a nice guy but I'm looking for someone more, uh, female. I'm pretty close to posting a personals ad in the local newspaper "distinguished older engineer seeks hottie for domain registration services, please send pix of router and/or firewall".

Re:Who to believe?

[se7en11]

I've never heard of Namecheap until all of this. I'm not saying this is the case, but what an excellent marketing plan to get your name out there.

Re:Who to believe?

[Bill Dimm]

I decided to move all of my domains a little less than a year ago because the old registar's interface sucked (no ability to bulk-change contact info) and it was rather expensive anyway. I spent a lot of time researching registrars to see which ones had a good reputation, and NameCheap came up a lot. I ended up using NameCheap, and I've been happy so far. My point is just that if you've never heard of NameCheap, I think you're paying very little attention to the domain name business, because they are quite well-known.

Re:Who to believe?

[Lumpy]

That is not a safe thing to do. Godaddy will register a domain you search for if you let it sit 24 hours. At least that is what I observed the lst time I went domain name speculating for a customer.

We searched on GoDaddy for 5 different domain names, the customer dragged his feet for 2 days and when we came back to register, ALL of them were registered and were available for "purchase" at their auction site.

Re:Who to believe?

[joebagodonuts]

...I'm not saying this is the case, but what an excellent marketing plan to get your name out there.

So, then what are you trying to say?

Re:Who to believe?

[Anonymous Coward]

Use GoDaddy as a domain registrar because... tits.

Re:Who to believe?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm pretty close to posting a personals ad in the local newspaper "distinguished older engineer seeks hottie for domain registration services, please send pix of router and/or firewall".

I am a hot blonde who is very interested in in your personal ad, but this is where things get very confusing for me. What should I do if my firewall is a pix? Should I send you firewall of my pix?

Re:Who to believe?

[Anonymous Coward]

Danica Patrick? Ehk, went to the same highschool with her. She wasn't so attractive with pimples and greese stains on her clothes, but she was always nice with us geeks. Still, just can't look at her and think "attractive".

Re:Who to believe?

[dgatwood]

They don't really register them. It's just domain tasting, and they can only do it for five days. Of course, with some bad luck, somebody else might come along and do the same thing for another five days, and so on. YMMV.

Re:Who to believe?

[MightyMartian]

If you consider spamming /. an excellent marketing plan. Rarely have I seen such shameless astroturfing.

Re:Who to believe?

[kyrio]

Regarding my previous comment, this current post of yours just seems to drive my point home.

Namecheap is one of the more widely recommended registrars. It's a big name in the business, not some unknown newcomer. Anyone who deals with [multiple] domains would know about this, unless the only thing they use to make their decisions in life is the television. Anyone working in the industry should know about other registrars and hosting providers, unless they are incompetent.

Re:Who to believe?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's 3 days now because of the domain tasting thing. People would do it for 5 days then move it somewhere else and keep on going.. it's called kiting.

Re:Who to believe?

[vlm]

As a practical matter as long as you've got an open ethernet port most /.-types will be pretty happy. Its only gotta pass traffic for two minutes anyway.

Sorry to bs03d

[wbr1]

When submitted this I had not looked at recent submissions and bs03d had submitted a story on the same subject, using the same title! I voted his up, but for some reason mine was accepted with additions from him.

But yeah! I got my first accepted submission on my first try. (Sarcastic self-congratulatory pack pat ensues).

I thought this was interesting for many reasons, but I can attest that incomplete information can hinder things very much. I have never worked directly with name registrations, but I used to process DNS records about 13 years ago, and it was painful when I would get an incomplete request.

Re:Sorry to bs03d

[timothy]

Not for every story, but very often we will mix various aspects of submissions on the same topic -- I saw that both of those had identical headlines, it made me smile (since they were otherwise distinct). Headline, body text, supplied source / anchortext ... sometimes the snappier version wins, and sometimes the ueberlinked version does, partly depending on how much recent coverage there's been (which is to say, how much context it seems is needed).

We like to give credit to multiple submitters, too, but since there are often many submitters for similar stories (and since the "credit" is mostly just a number in a database, in the end, or a namecheck ;)), that's a pretty low priority in the system.

Cheers,

timothy

Not the first time

[assertation]

I seem to have a vague memory of there being another mass exodus from godaddy a few years ago. Does anyone remember what the issue was?

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

People left after the CEO posted a video of him killing an elephant maybe a year or so back, not sure if that's what you're talking about.

Re:Not the first time

[SJHillman]

Here's the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/bob-parsons-godaddy-ceo-elephant-hunt_n_843121.html

Re:Not the first time

[assertation]

That does sound familiar. Thanks.

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh...

This Bob guy is really a chronic incurable asshole.

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

Reading that article, at first I thought it was disgusting and his explanation was crap. Then I saw that PETA was on the other side of the argument, and now I don't know what to think. When PETA is on one side of an issue, it almost doesn't matter who is on the other side.

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

I find PETA as annoying as the next guy, but killing an elephant is just disgusting to me on so many levels...

Yes, I know they trample crops. Don't give a shit, Bob Parsons obviously had the money to move the problem elephant. Besides, elephants migrate along the same paths year after year and have been since the dawn of fucking time. Trying to grow crops in the path of a bunch of migrating elephants is about as intelligent as trying to grow crops on train tracks.

Oh, but the people got to eat the elephant! So fucking what? Can I kill people if I promise to eat them afterwords? Besides, if they're starving, why didn't he leave the GoDaddy hats and shit at home (watch the video, every other person is wearing a brand new, bright orange GoDaddy hat) and bring them fucking food? Why didn't he spend his fortune building them walls and such around their crops?

We all know the real answers, and that is "Bob Parsons is wealthy. Bob Parsons wanted to murder a fucking elephant because he's a fucking psychopath and the thought of killing something gets him hard." Come up with every excuse in the world you want, the fact remains, he could have spent the same amount of money he used to bribe the people into allowing him to kill the elephant to do something positive for those people without killing an endangered species. He's not some poor African farmer trying to feed his family, he's just another entitled prick that views the world as his candy jar and any life that's not his own as less valuable. Fuck him and fuck GoDaddy.

Re:Not the first time

[Mikkeles]

So, did he kill it by bunga-bunga?

Re:Not the first time

[vilain]

I left Network Solutions some 10 years ago to go to GoDaddy. When I moved my web hosting, I switched to their registrar because it was easier. Except GoDaddy didn't make it easy. I had to call, talk to someone who's job it was was to talk me out of moving. I couldn't just close my account and move it. So, all their efforts to retain customers are just pissing off the ones that want to be done with them.

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish I had mod points...

I find the elephant thing much more concerning than SOPA.

SOPA protects his business model, so he can make more money...

The elephant saga shows what he will do with his money.

Godaddy on SOPA = greedy, asocial capitalist
Parsons re: Elephant = sociopathic, cruel, and evil

Re:Not the first time

[theArtificial]

We all know the real answers, and that is "Bob Parsons is wealthy. Bob Parsons wanted to murder a fucking elephant because he's a fucking psychopath and the thought of killing something gets him hard."

murder/mrdr/
Noun:
The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.
Verb:
Kill (someone) unlawfully and with premeditation.

Elephants are people now?

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. Also, elephants are among the most intelligent animals and are very family oriented, and the loss of one would cause their whole family to mourn for a long time (because, as the cliche correctly says, they have a long memory). I hope this doesn't sound like sarcasm, because I'm being quite serious.

Re:Not the first time

[Aighearach]

Can I kill people if I promise to eat them afterwords?

I dunno if it will help any, but you have my permission.

Re:Not the first time

[Aighearach]

Elephants are people now?

Not "now," they already were.

Re:Not the first time

[gmhowell]

So, did he kill it by bunga-bunga?

I'd be impressed if he killed it by snu-snu.

Re:Not the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

I would trade my nose in for a trunk in a heartbeat.

Let me put it straight:

[Kagetsuki]

"Dear GoDaddy. You openly supported something that revokes our rights and would give you more power to abuse us with while others in your position openly opposed it. Fuck you. Die."

No tears from us. Go Namecheap!

Shooting yourself in the foot isn't good enough...

[Tridus]

So now they've broken out a bazooka.

Seriously, they piss their customers off with their handling of SOPA. After that, their plan is... technical incompetence? Mishandling of accounts? Their lousy customer service is now in the spotlight because of this, and it's going to make their problems even worse because people remember a reputation for bad service long after they've forgotten all about SOPA.

You can't fix that with more ads from a second rate race car driver.

16 Domains.

[andydread]

Didn't plan on doing all this extra work during Christmas holidays. I just migrated 16 domains from GoDaddy to NameCheap. Wow I wish I knew they existed before hand. The interface is clean. NO endless checkboxes to uncheck. Thank you GoDaddy for introducing me to NameCheap. I am now GoDaddy-free and it feels really good. use SOPAsucks to get a discount. awesome.

Re:16 Domains.

[Howard Beale]

Unfortunately, the SOPAsucks code has reached its maximum allowance. Here are some more discount codes (ripped from their blog): Get reduced price registrations and transfers on com/net/org/biz domains using coupon code XMASJOY. Enjoy 10% off your first month of shared/reseller/business hosting using coupon code SNOWTIME and 10% off first month VPS hosting using code XVPS.

Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd never heard of Namecheep before this debacle and I found it curious how there were so very many references to it on Slashdot and the other new site forums. It was so dominant that my cynical side was wondering if it wasn't an astroturfing campaign.

Now we have these accusations. Frankly, at first blush, it sounds like dramatization on the part of Namecheep and standard incompetence excuses from GoDaddy. But, I also notice that only Namecheep is complaining. I don't see the same complaints from Network Solutions or Register et al, so I'm again wondering if this is some form of astroturfing because I am positive that GoDaddy has not targeting Namecheep exclusively.

Re:Interesting

[vlm]

I did some research and astroturfing seems unlikely in this individual situation.

First of all there's not dozens of "pro-namecheep" fanboy posts. There's like three. So I clicked on them to check out their posting history

InterestingFella (2537066) seems "real"
SJHillman (1966756) seems "real"
andydread (758754) seems "real"

It seems likely to me that namecheep does in fact rock.

Its kind of like whenever we talk about simple web hosting and ipv6, like fifty people come out of the woodwork to say he.net rocks. Or whenever we talk about colo virtual servers, again, like fifty people come out of the woodwork to say linode.com rocks. Based on personal experience as customer, its not a conspiracy or advertising, its simply that they're absolute best of breed and they do in fact rock. So I would be inclined to believe the /. groupthink and tend to think this namecheep place does in fact rock in the world of DNS service.

What I don't get, is that "gandi" or whatever place in like France or someplace used to get all the /. mindshare as being the "best". What happened to them? I recall it was "hard" to use if you lived in the USA, something about sending them money, but thats all I remember about ghandi or gandi or whatever they were.

Re:Interesting

[RazorSharp]

If it's astroturfing, then probably the first astroturfing campaign to have a positive effect. It's better to give your money to an astroturfer than to GoDaddy. So I'm all for an astroturfing campaign that encourages an even greater exodus from GoDaddy.

Regardless, I think you've just got your tin-foil hat on a bit tight. I've heard of Namecheap. Funny anecdote: I never used them b/c they have the word 'cheap' in their name and I tend to avoid things with that word. As an old retail boss of mine would always say, "Refer to the product as inexpensive, not cheap. Cheap can refer to quality whereas inexpensive exclusively refers to price."

Re:Interesting

[Daniel_Staal]

Namecheap appeared to be the most commonly-recommended registrar in threads on switching. (To the point that a guide was written using it as the 'switch-to'.) It's possible that they are getting a large percentage of the people switching.

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

This behavior is pretty standard for Godaddy, I would recommended almost anybody besides them. Namecheap, from my limited experience, seems decent. No hassle sign up, limited bad hearsay online about them, no issues so far to deal with tech support (so I can't rate that), and fairly clean interface.

The push for Namecheap is more likely that of fans, just like how Apple fans push apple products or even MS fans. That said, this move is quite likely, as you stated, a PR move since Godaddy being a pain to transfer away is pretty much status quo.

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

It's because Namecheap is probably getting 99% of the registrations from GoDaddy.

Almost nobody uses Network Solutions, Register, et al. because they're expensive and have some annoying practices not unlike GoDaddy.

Re:Interesting

[Bill Dimm]

Funny, I was reluctant because of the name too. After seeing enough positive reviews I decided to give them a shot, and I'm happy with them so far.

Re:Interesting

[theskipper]

It's not just Namecheap. I transferred a dozen names this weekend to a (non-Namecheap) registrar and the whois info is now in limbo. i.e. whois is still showing Godaddy info even after receiving "your domain transfer is complete" messages from the gaining registrar.

Note that I've done transfers from GD numerous times in the past decade (exactly the same way) and they've always cleared immediately. This time it's definitely different.

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I used Gandi for a while but I had some customer service problems and got sick of the fact that they were only offering deals for new registrations and transfers. If you were a loyal customer you got hit with the highest prices which pissed me off.

I moved most of my domains to nearlyfreespeech.net. They are awesome on service and quite reasonable on price. I also have no concerns whatsoever about them selling me out to the Stasi.

Re:Interesting

[Sloppy]

I still use Gandi and I live in USA.

The only "hard" thing about them is that every single year when I pay them, it triggers VISA fraud alert (i.e. VISA calls me and wants me to confirm it was a legit charge) because they're not used to me buying a lot of stuff from Europe anymore.

And that's really a VISA problem rather than a Gandi problem, and actually if you think about it, it's not a "problem" at all -- confirming rare exceptions is good. I just wish VISA would realize that this yearly charge is like clockwork, every year at about the same time for about the same amount, so not really all that exceptional. But I can forgive that too. There's no real hassle here at all, and it'll take more than that for me to reconsider Gandi. It ain't broke so I ain't fixin' it.

Re:Interesting

[marcosdumay]

Just to confirm that, vlm (69642) seems "real".

Now somedy just append another verification here, so we can continue running the byzantine generals problem.

Re:Interesting

[MightyMartian]

Fuck off you astroturfing piece of shit.

Re:Interesting

[Bill Dimm]

I am not being paid by anyone for anything I post. Sorry it offends you that someone expresses a genuine opinion.

Re:Interesting

[Gideon Wells]

Namecheap may not be astroturfing, but they are putting out the word/cause.

I can't say if it is for business reasons or if they are drinking from the same water cooler as the rest of the anti-SOPA crowd. Namecheap might be one of the few GoDaddy is targeting as Namecheap is proclaiming that you should transfer not only to be against SOPA but to save endangered wildlife from GoDaddy.

http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/03/30/elephants/

N.C. has painted a target on themselves.

Re:Interesting

[MightyMartian]

Sorry it offends you that someone expresses a genuine opinion

Over and over again. There's expressing an opinion, and then there's shilling...

Re:Interesting

[Bill Dimm]

Spend 10 second reading through my post history, and then explain who you think I am shilling for.

Re:Interesting

[kyrio]

You haven't heard of Namecheap because, a) you are in fact trying to do damage control, b) the television makes every decision in your life, c) you are incompetent, or d) you don't actually deal with domains and so you have no knowledge of anything other than (b).

Though I use a different registrar, Namecheap is one of the most recommended registrars out there. It's a very well known name in the industry. The only reason I didn't choose them in the end is that another registrar was better suited to myself, and although it's a bit smaller than Namecheap, it also had fewer negative experience reviews.

Re:Interesting

[kyrio]

People still suggest Gandi on here. I only just heard about them a couple of months ago from a suggestion in Slashdot comment.

Re:Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been using gandi for years, for domain names and (recently) hosting. Interface is relatively easy to navigate, hosting is very flexible, and I like their attitude. I've never had a problem except the one you mentioned. Finally broke down and used paypal instead this last time which solves the out-of-country flagging.

Re:Interesting

[bill_mcgonigle]

What I don't get, is that "gandi" or whatever place in like France or someplace used to get all the /. mindshare as being the "best". What happened to them? I recall it was "hard" to use if you lived in the USA, something about sending them money, but thats all I remember about ghandi or gandi or whatever they were.

I tried them out a few months ago based on prior Slashdot cred. The bank did wonder about a charge to France, but that didn't bother me too much.

What bothered me first was that I didn't get any response to a configuration question I posted to their help board (so the $45 in VPS charges just evaporated as far as I'm concerned).

Then, I had a handle with them from a couple years ago (from when I transferred a domain to someone on their system - they required /me/ to make an account), which I used when I registered a new domain. They didn't like the contact info (from a previous domain registration). I was happy to correct it to their standards, but that would require a new handle in their system and they wanted to charge me some outrageous fee to move the domain to the new handle.

Whatever - I transferred the domain to NameCheap. Even though it's in an expensive TLD, I got the transfer/renewal for about half of what they wanted for their 'move fee'.

Perhaps if you're a political dissident then dealing with them is worth the effort - at least that's their reputation.

Re:Interesting

[Aighearach]

how real can they be with that many digits? You should know better, gramps.

Re:Interesting

[Aighearach]

Just to confirm, vlm(69642) used to seem real, but then he was confirmed by marcosdumay(620877) who was born yesterday and wouldn't know, so now I'm questioning the reality of vlm too.

Re:Interesting

[Aighearach]

or you're already really happy with enom and their API and reseller tools (great for anybody managing a lot of domains, not just resellers)

Domains are so cheap anyways, only people with really worthless sites care about 50 cents/yr or whatever.

Re:Interesting

[Artifex]

I first heard about them a year ago from a buddy when I was looking to move from register.com. I stayed with Register one more year, but a couple of weeks ago it was time to renew again and I asked my buddy if he still liked Namecheap. If anything, he loved them even more than he did before, so I jumped.

I don't have a ton of experience with registrars, this being only my third since 1998 (grin), but they seem fine to me so far.

Re:Interesting

[vlm]

Not only real, but vlm (69642) happens to be an integer. 32 bit variety, not 16 bit. Now for some old timer reminiscence, didn't /. have a legendary multi-day outage a decade ago because the article ID was a 16 bit int, or something like that?

Icann rules and whois

[pinfall]

Godaddy limits whois queries as is their limited right to do so. However, the ability to meter queries does not apply to the transfer of domains which must be a transparent process. The problem is that Godaddy can easily transfer bulk transfer out requests but they are getting stuck by their stupid registrant query limit.

The fact that Icann let them get away with this bs for so long is ineptitude. Remove this dumbass query limit and all is well.

Not true

[wbr1]

Please, don't compare GoDaddy to prostitutes. At least the services prostitutes offer are honest.

I am not sure all prostitutes offer honest service, but I have yet to meet one who prevented you from pulling out when you wanted!

Re:Not true

[drinkypoo]

There once was a whore from Rangoon
Who filled her vagina with glue
    "If they'll pay to get in,"
    Said she with a grin,
"They'll pay to get out of it too!"

I'm not sure if I got the right city, but I know it's not Peru, because that always reminds me of this one:

There was a princess of Bulgaria
Whose bush just got hairier and hairier,
    'Til a prince from Peru
    Who came up for a screw
Had to hunt for her cunt with a terrier.

How Long. . .

[RazorSharp]

Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be until Danica's driving another car? Namecheap should offer to sponsor her.

Correction

[rickb928]

"their practice of rate limiting Whois queries is Whois abuse".

There, more honest.

Re:Correction

[Anonymous Coward]

Rate limiting whois queries is not abuse. Indeed, it is a good practice. Without it, whois becomes a mailing list database for spammers. If you have a legitimate need for removing a rate limit, you can request it of a registrar.

I'm no fan of godaddy, and moved my domains away from them years ago. But this is not something they have gotten wrong.

Another good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

Hover.com (Tucows, Inc.) officially stated that they oppose SOPA. I've been using them for over a year and they're very straight forward and cheap as well.

https://www.hover.com/help/blog/hover-opposes-sopa

Re:Another good registrar

[Bill Dimm]

Good on them for doing that, but I have to say that (unless something has changed since I used them) their user-interface is extremely tedious if you are managing multiple domains.

Re:Another good registrar

[Anonymous Coward]

I've moved some domains to hover.com (I like tucows, and finally they have a direct non-reseller). But hover.com is a kind of crappy interface. For one, they don't have IPv6 glue (entering IPv6 address results in error that it was invalid IPv4) so I'll have to contact them before transferring more. I'm sure this can be worked out.

Their interface is also quite 'puffy'.

hypocrites

[MichaelKristopeit421]

Furthermore, they accuse Namecheap of playing foul because they released a statement before ever contacting godaddy directly to resolve these issues.

just like SOPA would allow them to do... domain seizure with no trial or recourse is most certainly foul.

boycott all of these companies

Shitty business practices

[LoudNoiseElitist]

I moved to Namecheap a few months ago after becoming sick and tired of GoDaddy's shitty business practices. I decided to move to Namecheap shortly before my registrations with GoDaddy expired.

Before allowing me to transfer my domains, I was informed that I had to update my Whois info to make sure that it was accurate. There was no way to *not* do this. I could not begin the transfer process until this was done. I had done it a few months prior when ICANN requires yearly updates. This was something new.

Upon being forced to update my information (none of which was actually changed), my domains were forced into "locked" status, and thus prevented from being transferred for *two* months. Despite the fact that ICANN has released numerous statements saying that this behavior is not allowed, GoDaddy enforced this policy, despite me calling and talking to ten or fifteen different individuals.

I eventually had to renew each domain with GoDaddy, wait the two months, and then attempt the transfer to Namecheap again.

GoDaddy is a shit company, and I sincerely hope that an elephant tramples Bob Parsons.

yeah

[unity100]

wait until you chance up against one serious issue. or even, try to cancel/move out your stuff.

Re:yeah

[HamburglerJones]

Agreed - I thought 1&1 was fine, although overpriced (they gradually jacked up the price as time went on, presumably thinking it'd be too big a hassle for me to leave at that point). The problem was they decided I still owed them money after I had cancelled. Not only did they not inform me of this bogus charge, they sent it to a collection agency so I had to find out on my credit report. 1&1 - I give you money, you give me service. I stop, you stop. End of transaction. Please do not give these crooks any of your money! That said, GoDaddy sucks too and they made it very difficult for me to leave (it was a year long-process for me). I agree with the other folks who mentioned Namecheap - I manage all my domains through them and have been very happy thus far. Haven't tried to transfer any domains away from them yet, so I can't speak to that. Hopefully they don't pull the same shenanigans as the aforementioned scam artists.

namecheap is using the situation, again...

[Anonymous Coward]

Namecheap blamed godaddy (ceo of godaddy on footage with wildlife slaughter) some month ago.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/129331/20110331/namecheap-godaddy-elephants.htm

"Namecheap is now offering to transfer domain from GoDaddy to Namecheap at a price so cheap that Namecheap loses money on those transactions. In addition, it will donate $1 for every transfer to Save The Elephants"

make our own mind..

Re:namecheap is using the situation, again...

[kyrio]

They are using GoDaddy's negative press because they know it will get them business from people who are rightfully angry with GoDaddy. It makes no difference to their level of service whatsoever if they are using GoDaddy's moronic practices to get free advertising. It does not change that Namecheap provides a good service. I don't use them but if I had to move registrars, they would be at the top of my list.

Did not have issues

[Anonymous Coward]

I was with GoDaddy, was not happy with the service (and was not really fond of the owner, but that's my personal opinion).
Bought services from another provider and my domain was transferred smoothly and quickly, plus they quickly refunded me for the services I did not use.
This happened about 6-8 months ago.

Another way to check your transfer status.

[Anonymous Coward]

Got this from Namecheap support: http://www.intodns.com PLEASE don't /. the site -- many of us are still suffering GoDaddy-caused outages! While you'll see errors there, you can check your domain with: dig @freedns[1-5].registrar-servers.com to see that Namecheap HAS done their part.
TOO FUNNY... the Captcha for this post is "ankles" -- sure feels like I'm grabbing them while GoDaddy "has my back"... :P

Am I the 1 percent?

[Anonymous Coward]

I never had any problems with transferring domains to and from Godaddy (Except for their bulky interface)

Should I crawl into fetal position and cry for my ignorance?

I use Moniker

[Anonymous Coward]

NameCheap has been great at capitalizing on this fiasco, but their prices aren't that far off from Moniker's. They have a very nice interface as well in addition to various security features.

As for moving domains from GoDaddy: I believe they'll see a longer-term effect as well: I for one am not moving everything right away: I just use them for cheap parking of domains I'll use later on. I won't keep active domains with them anyway. However, I will move once the renew date comes up. Also, I will not be registering new domains through them.

It's not even so much the SOPA deal that bothers me, but the way they phrased their support for it. Apparently, if you're not American, then GoDaddy seems to think you can go F yourself. If I'm not welcome as a customer, then all they have to do is ask me to leave. It's not a big deal, geez. Better yet, they should put their money where their mouth is and reject all international orders. Then there's no problem with furrenurs at all.

GoDaddy is blocking my domain transfer

[Anonymous Coward]

For anyone who doesn't believe GoDaddy is now just explicitly blocking transfers - I've tried for two days now to move a single GoDaddy domain I have (that I bought through Google) to EasyDNS and GoDaddy is just blocking the transfer (see message below). I don't know if I'm more upset with GoDaddy or Google at this point (who continues to resell GoDaddy and provides no help here). Note that the (obscured) link to GoDaddy for support below points to a page with a PIN, with no information on where the PIN is obtained. Calling GoDaddy goes into an infinite black hole on support lines.

REGISTRAR TRANSFER DENIED

Dear Registration Private,

The transfer of x from Google Apps to another registrar could not be completed for the following reason(s):

Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. - email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means).

If you believe that this domain name does not fit the situation described above, go to x for assistance.

Regards,
Domain Services
Google Apps

Re:GoDaddy is blocking my domain transfer

[TheGoodNamesWereGone]

I got the same boilerplate from them. The solution is to cancel Domains By Proxy is you're using it, and make sure your whois info is correct.

Re:GoDaddy is blocking my domain transfer

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, I had the same deal months ago. GoDaddy doesn't clearly tell you what's wrong... it's up to you to figure out Domains By Proxy is the culprit. They mention this on a FAQ page buried in their support. And it's not just this, GoDaddy is terrible through and through...

Business with GoDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

We were using GoDaddy to host some of our corporate servers. Due to their stubbornness and inflexibility on small points we ended up losing a lot of important business email. When I tried to go up the chain of command to get the issue addressed they flatly refused to allow me to talk to anyone higher up. I made many efforts to go around them to no avail. We ended up dropping use of them. We will never do business with that company!

Data point from the last 24 hours

[thatseattleguy]

I think GoDaddy sucks large avian eggs on a variety of levels (morally and technically); I try hard to convince any client who comes to me with domains or hosting there to switch to something else - anything else. (I usually recommend Pairnic.com as a registrar and Pair.com for hosting, but other great options exist.)
</disclosure>

That said, I transferred a client's domain from GoDaddy just last night (to Pairnic) and the process was exceedingly quick and smooth. Since GoDaddy allows you to log in an "approve" a transfer in process, the whole thing was done in 20 minutes from start to finish. Never had one go that fast, so I have to give credit to GoDaddy where it's due here. At least in this case, they were not putting up any roadblocks.

But yes, I'm glad to be almost completely rid of them. Even if Danica is smokin' hot.

Re:Data point from the last 24 hours

[jamesh]

Same here, although I transferred my domain about 2 weeks before i'd heard anything about SOPA. The process was simple and trouble free.

A competitor publishing statements to the effect that "GoDaddy is deliberately disrupting the domain transfer process" without hard proof is the sort of thing that gets a lawsuit pointed in their direction. A bunch of transfer requests with missing information is not "hard proof" in itself, you'd have to show deliberate intent. And there is precedent for companies who have lost their core business that suddenly decide to make money by suing others (where is SCO these days?). I'm not saying the accusation isn't true, just that they'd better have some evidence to back up their claims...

Leave a comment at icann.org...

[Anonymous Coward]

I left this: Should not a losing registrar reduce the DNS TTL to allow a quick transfer to the gaining registrar?

A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

I transferred an expiring domain to Namecheap last week for reasons unrelated to GoDaddy's asshattery, but I saw a blog post (that I can no longer find, alas) pointing out something in Namecheap's TOS that bothers the hell out of me. Specifically:

You agree that Namecheap, in its sole discretion and without liability to you, may refuse to accept the registration of any domain name. Namecheap also may in its sole discretion and without liability to you delete the registration of any domain name during the first thirty (30) days after registration has taken place. Namecheap may also cancel the registration of a domain name, after thirty (30) days, if that name is being used, as determined by Namecheap in its sole discretion, in association with spam or morally objectionable activities (as well as any activities set forth in Section 4 above). Morally objectionable activities will include, but not be limited to 1) activities designed to defame, embarrass, harm, abuse, threaten, slander or harass third parties; 2) activities prohibited by the laws of the United States and/or foreign territories in which you conduct business; 3) activities designed to encourage unlawful behavior by others, such as hate crimes, terrorism and child pornography; 4) activities that are tortious, vulgar, obscene, invasive of the privacy of a third party, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable; activities designed to impersonate the identity of a third party; 5) and activities designed to harm or use unethically minors in any way.

Note the part about "Namecheap in its sole discretion" and imagine that the guy answering the "abuse@" email is having a bad day. Suppose I have a blog on a domain registered through them and I:

1) Embarrass a local politician.
2) Get AdSense revenue from a post saying that the Egyptian government sucks.
3) Say I think it's OK for someone to smoke pot, even if it's illegal where they live.
4) Say something that someone, somewhere, thinks is vulgar or obscene.
5) Make fun of Justin Bieber.

Namecheap could decide in its sole discretion that any of those is sufficient to delete my domain from the registry. Frankly, that's bullshit. I know that Namecheap is unlikely to do something so boneheaded, but I'm utterly against them having the right to yank me off the Internet just because they don't like what I've said. And although I'm talking here about Namecheap specifically, I recognize that a lot of other registrars have similar terms. Does anyone use a more freedom-respecting registrar that they would recommend?

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

Following up to myself, the blog post I mentioned points out the nearly identical terms and conditions in GoDaddy's and Namecheap's contracts. Gandi has the same objectionable terms. I've written to NearlyFreeSpeech to ask for clarification of their policy but haven't heard back yet, and it looks like Hover specifically avoids any "morality clauses".

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[lgw]

All that really says is "if your web page is likely to get us sued, or otherwise in legal trouble, find a different host." I don't see a problem with that - you can't expect otherwise from a hosting company; why would they eat the expese of a legal mess caused by a customer?

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[kyrio]

Sounds like generic terms that won't actually be used by a good registrar for anything other than domains used for illegal purposes. Domains used for child pornography sites, for example.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone use a more freedom-respecting registrar that they would recommend?

I've been using gandi.net (based in France) for years and been satisfied.

That being said, I only did due diligence at the time I first started using them (probably more than a decade ago), and I can't tell you offhand if their ToS might not be as reasonable now as they were in the past.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

But it's not for web hosting - it's for domain registration. In what conceivable world could a domain's content cause legal trouble for a pre-SOPA American registrar?

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

But there are already laws that kick in there, hence the phrase "illegal purposes". If their terms of service said something like "we can delete your domain if ordered by a court of law", then I'd have no problem with it at all. Instead, they open the floodgates for deleting domains for any reason they feel like.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[jamesh]

Sounds like generic terms that won't actually be used by a good registrar for anything other than domains used for illegal purposes. Domains used for child pornography sites, for example.

I don't buy that. I want a registrar that will only delete a domain when ordered to do so by a court. That "sole discretion" clause sounds like a bad idea.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget that Gandi is a French company, and French law is not US law.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[bill_mcgonigle]

why would they eat the expese of a legal mess caused by a customer?

So customers engaging in controversial speech patronize them?

At least in theory - it sounds like a losing business model given the current state of the US legal system.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[lgw]

I think you'd need a premium hosting company, perhaps even a colo, in order to do something legally-controversial without getting summarily yanked. I would certainly expact that level of service to cost more, and it would be nice to think someone would offer that premium service, but I really wouldn't expect it on a server shared with 1000 other sites - after all, the server might be seized, and the 1000 other customers don't need that grief.

Re:A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

Again, this is regarding domain registration, not web hosting. I don't care so much if a web host doesn't allow me to cuss or make fun of people because I can pick a different web host. There aren't nearly so many registrars to choose from.

Worked fine for me

[thesinfulgamer]

Moved my 5 domains away, and except one problem with my auth codes everything was completed in less than an hour (including being reregistered under my new host) but good riddance

Why does everyone think Danica is hot?

[Anonymous Coward]

Gosh, I've always considered her a 6/10 at best. I can't stand that scrunched face, and she has no curves. Her skin is pasty (but you wouldn't know because of the airbrush / photoshop). Then again, NASCAR fans don't really have high standards when it comes to beauty.

Back on topic...

I recently refused to work with a client because they used GoDaddy for registration and hosting. They were baffled that I'd turn down a few grand job because of their hosting, but I just knew that the project would run way over-budget due to the inevitable failures of GoDaddy's hosting services.

Re:Why does everyone think Danica is hot?

[kyrio]

Yeah, most "stars" and "models" are 6/10s. If you hadn't noticed, the general populace is full of the mentally challenged. I've seen thousands of camwhores (you know, those ones that get naked on the Internet just for fun) that are infinitely hotter than any girl that's "known".

playing foul?

[Thaelon]

playing foul because they released a statement before ever contacting godaddy directly to resolve these issues

Oh, but conspiring with the media mafia and bought congressmen to censor the internet for profit. That's playing fair?

I hope they go bankrupt before 2012.

Re:Shooting yourself in the foot isn't good enough

[future assassin]

>Their lousy customer service is now in the spotlight because of this, and it's going to make their problems even worse because people remember a reputation for bad service long after they've forgotten all about SOPA.

Sorry to tell you there are enough idiots out there that want to save $.50 on a domain name to keep GoDaddy afloat long enough for the rest and new comers to forget what GoDaddy did/does.

Re:Shooting yourself in the foot isn't good enough

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't fix that with more ads from a second rate race car driver.

Even second rate race car drivers place better than she does.

Re:Shooting yourself in the foot isn't good enough

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they're confident that SOPA will pass and their corrupt friends from government agencies will seize and pass them any domain they ask ? Just wondering.

tranferring to Namecheap?

[ca111a]

I might as well. But NOT TODAY - why put such a strain on their services...

550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Tolvor]

I run a business and have over 550 domains at GoDaddy and no I'm not planning on moving. If GoDaddy CEO Parsons(?) wants to go hunting and kill an elephant, fine. That has absolutely nothing to do with my business model nor does it affect my clients (elephants don't pay for my products). It also does not affect me that GoDaddy wants to promote SOPA and then decide not to. My business is is not in danger of running afoul of SOPA guidelines and having my domain names snatched.

I am surprised that so many people are transferring their domain names to another registrar (ex Namecheap). I work on concentrating on my business bottom line and doing what I do best. Changing registrars does not help that at all. All it does is make a political statement of "I don't like GoDaddy". While this may be mildly satisfying for all of a day or so, it does not do anything for my business. Put concisely, this is not something in my Circle of Influence, and I have doubt about whether this should even be in my Circle of Concern.

GoDaddy outbound transfers: Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[matria]

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out." -- Martin Niemöller, January 6, 1946

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." --Edmund Burke

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[motokochan]

I respect your decision, but must ask you to think a bit about the larger picture of GoDaddy themselves.

Not only have they come out in favor of a law that allows any company to claim copyright infringement and get a whole domain blacklisted easily, but GoDaddy has also engaged in other negative customer-hostile acts such as selective DNS "blackouts", which at least in the past resulted in the entire country of China being cut off from all domains using GoDaddy DNS.

They've also been accused of not paying overtime for their employees.

Also, keep in mind that with SOPA, GoDaddy still hasn't made an attempt to have their name removed in Congress as a supporter of the bill, so their "reversal" is just a publicity stunt.

Do you really wish to reward a company that's engaged in some fairly unethical behavior and also some behavior that is targeted specifically toward getting their customers to pay them more by degrading their services unless one pays? The company has shown a pattern of making choices that favor itself at the expense of its customers. SOPA may not be in your circle of concern, but their unethical behavior certainly should be.

Still, at the end of the day it is your choice.

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

I am also a very happy GoDaddy customer. I have domains, web hosting, and hosted exchange with them. The service has been nothing but top notch. I think everyone posting here about namecheap, etc are stuck in a whole "us against them" mentality from OWS. Great, your personal domain names are moved.

I wish more happy GoDaddy customers would speak up. This is hardly a reason to get all riled up. A lot more of our personal freedoms are affected by idiots in our political system, they're the ones to worry about.

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

All it does is make a political statement of "I don't like GoDaddy".

Of course. That is the point. To protest the practices of Go Daddy and its CEO. Its not about YOUR business. Its personal. Because even business owners are PEOPLE. Sometimes doing what you believe is the right thing, is NOT in your best interest. Funny how that works out. I've read several of your posts, and you seem to lack empathy for anyone but yourself. It makes good business, but it doesn't make a very good person. Perhaps a decent robot. Not one I'd like to hang out with. Happy New Year

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

Better hope Hollywood/mpaa and the riaa name a product of one your 550 names.

Godaddy will bend over backwards to get rid the infringement.

Good luck.

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Shikaku]

GoDaddy supports SOPA.

All it takes is a single infringement by law to remove your domain.

Do you really wish to play russian roulette with your domains?

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[GSloop]

I'll take the bait.

While this may be mildly satisfying for all of a day or so, it does not do anything for my business.

From a business perspective, this is officially true - I'm sure Ford thought the same thing about their Pinto and how it _could_ catch fire in a crash. [But not very often, so why bother doing much - it would cost more than it was worth. In short - "It didn't do anything for their business."]

And if your only basis for judging what is the moral best for you and your customers, and the world is "how well it does for your business" than I'm sure you're probably making the right choice.

However, I choose to run my life by other metrics than just "how well it does my business." And so for me, and others like me, I suspect that not supporting a scummy jerk who has ideals that seem to mesh quite well with yours [namely "It must do something for my business."] is more important than making a buck.

I find such people objectionable and find that continuing to support them and enable them to continue said morally questionable practices is really pretty much a bone-headed thing to do. So, while it might not help my business, I think it will probably help the planet not to support such people and take action, even if it costs me something - perhaps even a lot.

In summary, remaining true to my honor, my moral code and what I consider altruistic and reasonable behavior is far more valuable than just "...what it does for my business."

I even think you'd probably be a happier individual if you'd consider such things valuable as well. But perhaps not. I guess you'll have to decide.

-Greg

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

[Sarcasm]
There are 35 other robbers in town. I won't worry about the guy who is living in my basement. I mean, heck - think of all those other robbers. Those are the guys you should be worried about.
[/Sarcasm]

Sheesh - seriously? Is that the best defense you have? That there are "other bad guys out there."

Any one of them can hurt you. You have power over the guy in your basement, but your solution is to ignore the one you have power over and focus on the others you don't?

Really? Seriously?

I own or register/manage more than a hundred domains - and my clients have many more. I will still try to work with my clients when they use GoDaddy, but every one of my experiences with GoDaddy has been tinged to drenched with distaste.

They are doing everything they can to make revenue at your expense. [Hard to transfer away, useless web-hosting, and email. A million come-on's during registration and every-time you do anything.]

So, I can use GoDaddy, reasonably well. But it costs my customers a lot *more* on average than using someone else. Finally, as the saying goes..."go to bed with the dogs, wake up with fleas." If you climb in bed with scum, don't be surprised when you're a victim too.

I know it's terribly surprising, but people who lack ethics, lack ethics for everyone they do business with, including you.

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

You're an idiot. Every single company out there (internet related or not) is trying to make a buck. It's what businesses do. It's not like GoDaddy is the only for-profit registrar.

And their web hosting is great, I'm not sure how you qualify it as useless. What exactly have you had problems with? Same goes with email hosting. I use their hosted Exchange product and I've never had one problem. I'd have PLENTY of problems with other hosts. GoDaddy is the first good host I've found. Period.

All the arguments above about the majority of people being stupid are spot on. This includes the majority of the people posting here. Have fun with no name companies run out of a basement. When the guys mom gets sick of him playing WoW, she'll unplug the internet connection and you're SoL :P

Re:550+ Godaddy domains and staying

[Anonymous Coward]

Great straw man argument you got going there...

The argument was - if you deal with unethical people expect them to screw you too. If you empower them by doing more business with them, they'll screw even more people over.

You, twist the argument to: "Why is it bad to make a buck?"

Which wasn't the argument at all. I'm fine with making a buck. I just don't think it's safe to assume that that ethically challenged asshole who is screwing everyone else over won't screw you over too. Making a buck [or not] isn't the issue.

Finally: If GoDaddy is the "first good host" you've found - I'm afraid you're not trying very hard, or you really have terrible luck picking hosting companies.

Hanlon's Razor...

[maple_shaft]

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlons_razor

Good for you, now screw off

[tekrat]

Fine. So GoDaddy hasn't *currently* done anything that affects you or your business.

But when they do, what are you going to do?

You may find that you NO LONGER have a voice about it, because GoDaddy's new EULA specifies that they now own the domains you've paid or done something equally unethical, but now entirely legal because you let them get away with it.

If you continue to support a bunch of crooks, don't be surprised then when they steal from you. And don't complain to us either, because we'll be saying "I told you so".

Playing foul?

[BronsCon]

Furthermore, they accuse Namecheap of playing foul because they released a statement before ever contacting godaddy directly to resolve these issues.

Funny, when I put up my anti-GoDaddy site, they tried to have my server shut down (along with all my other sites) and, when that failed (my provider told them to pound sand), tried to have my domain pulled due to incomplete or incorrect contact information. When my registrar notified me (via the admin email on that domain) I informed them that they are more than welcome to write me at the address on file and/or call me at the number on file.

Namecheap is using GoDaddy's tactics, here, and GoDaddy can't take what they dish out. Ha.

Further, yes, it is common practice to rate limit public WHOIS queries. However, a WHOIS query done as part of a domain transfer is not your typical public query and there should be a separate channel through which those queries are done, which should not be rate limited. I'm not 100% on this but I believe ICANN has ruled on this, as well.

What's up with all the registrar company names?

[microbee]

That's why I don't trust this industry. "GoDaddy", can it be more porn? And "Namecheap", say no more!

enom

[Aighearach]

enom has the best API.

Also they give out reseller accounts, then you can register a domain with the reseller account, create a sub account, and push the domain into the sub-account without transferring it. That way you can set up clients entirely, without impersonating them, and without an extra transfer expense.

And then if you need to give them support, you're their registrar and can change things on their behalf. And you can still get upstream support from enom if you need it.

I would rather it be too hard than too easy

[Anonymous Coward]

My company recently had their domain stolen. Who to blame? The GoDaddy employee who was "tricked" into opening some malicious email that allowed attackers to take over our domain. We did get the domain back prior to any damage being done. The more barriers to transferring a domain the better when it comes to incompetent GoDaddy.

yepyepuhhuh

[Aighearach]

forgot to add, he.net and linode do in fact rock.

Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

I transferred my domain away from GoDaddy the day that this saga started. They had no issues providing all of the WHOIS information to NameCheap. Obviously, this isn't 'technical issues', this is them limiting people from transferring.

That's why I use GKG.NET

[Anonymous Coward]

Never had a problem with them, and have several hundred domains over there.

GoDaddy drops associated IP address for company?

[Jameson Burt]

I went to purchase socks today from
      http://socksappeal.com/
but its registrar,
      GoDaddy
failed to associate an IP address (failed to perform DNS service)
although SocksAppeal has paid for its domain into March, 2012.
I purchased from GoDaddy's customer SocksAppeal just 5 months ago,
and now GoDaddy might (other possible reasons) cause a commercial business to fail.

Yet another victim of GoDaddy

[Anonymous Coward]

And I thought it was only me who has been a victim of GoDaddy's bad business practices. GoDaddy's website sucks users into believing that they are being offered a good deal for the money, but hidden behind the facade of there T&Cs is their vile plan to make money which is extortionate to say the least.

When contacted all that GoDaddy's customer support has to say is that its all written in the Terms of service and you should read it all, which says loads about their anti-customer practices and a complete lack of business ethics.

Just took me 24 hours to transfer from GD to NC...

[FlavorDave]

I was going to post yesterday asking how long all this would take... but decided to just go ahead with my transfer and report back. 24 hours for me. No bumps.

I already had domains at GoDaddy and NameCheap and decided this was a good time to consolidate at NC. I had unlocked my GoDaddy domain a couple of weeks ago with the intention of dealing with it when I had some downtime over the holidays. I started the whole process this time yesterday. After a few notifications and accepting the transfer on both sides I got an email this afternoon that the transfer was done. Logged into my NameCheap control panel and there it is.

I still have one domain at GoDaddy but I am letting it expire anyway so no reason to transfer unless I decide to resurrect the site.

hi

[Anonymous Coward]

Namecheap is great but one more is expressplex which is giving good services to its clients