NeoGAF, SOPA and Godaddy.

[Subliminal]

So yeah, I'm probably putting my neck on the line by even making this thread but there's not really anywhere to discuss this, and I've just seen wittering about it in other threads.

NeoGAF is currently registered with GoDaddy, for those of you who haven't been keeping up with the news GoDaddy has been under massive fire recently for supporting SOPA (I'll get onto that later). A bunch of reddit users made an abandon GoDaddy day, their customers have been flocking away (Including Wikipedia) and they've even attempted lying to try and win customers back. I think its about time GAF upped sticks and made the move.

Unless you don't really follow US politics you'll know SOPA, or the Stop online piracy act, is a legislative measure thats currently filtering through the American political system. Broadly speaking it will give the US government, at the discretion of large media conglomerates the ability to filter the websites available to users. On top of that the US government will have the ability to chase down people who try and flee to other countries.

Why should NeoGAF be worrying about this? or why should anyone be worrying about this, its just trying to stop piracy right? no. Copyright infringement has become a pretty loose and crazy thing on the web, mostly self policed. Sites like YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google, Reddit and even NeoGAF will be susceptible to punishment, simply because they are unable to control what users post, You know how everyone loves Gifs from TV Shows or Movies? Yeah, that's copyright infringement. Under SOPA stuff like that would be banned or just cause GAF to shut down.

Its not just me who feels this way. SOPA is opposed by a whole bunch of the 'big' web companies; Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo!, Wikimedia, Mozilla, eBay etc..

There's a neat infographic here about SOPA. http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html

Hopefully this thread can become some sort of focal point and sent a polite, clear message to the admins. We don't like SOPA and neither should you. It's time to act about it.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

I'm more apathetic, but I'll begrudgingly agree with you.

Down with GoDaddy. Though, how do we know this isn't gonna blow up into a Google-esque debacle?

 

[Kraftwerk]

...but GoDaddy has that super hot ad with the sexy cop and the sexy driver...

so torn hnnnnggg

 

[Lionheart1337]

Your move Evilore

 

[TheNatural]

I understand, but sometimes it may be a pain in the ass to move domains or other companies may be less reliable.

What may be more effective is to send an e-mail threatening to move the domain because of SOPA and look for a financial incentive to stay.

 

[Full Recovery]

Which domain would be a good alternative? I don't know much about domains.

 

[Shanadeus]

.

 

[mcrae]

didnt godaddy repeal their support of SOPA? yesterday or the day before?

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Shit really is getting real. Goddamn.

 

[CrocMother]

I think it would be a cool statement for NeoGAF to make, and apparently it isn't that hard to do.

 

[BocoDragon]

I think it'd be fair to move the site...

 

[IamMattFox]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Well now I'm torn.

 

[Amir0x]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

 

[Credo]

I'm fully in support of not supporting GoDaddy, but I don't know anything about the difficulties of switching domains. I'd love to see GAF drop them if possible, but I guess I would understand if it wasn't financially viable.

Edit: I hadn't read that they reversed their thinking and withdrew support. I guess that makes this a non-issue then.

 

[SmithnCo]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Bye!

 

[elrechazado]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

And they said SOPA was bad....

Seriously though, godaddy apologized and has "changed their stance". Isn't that all anyone can ask? Were they massively lobbying for sopa, or just stating "in favor"?

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

wtf is going on, I'm agreeing with amirox.

 

[CrankyJay]

Your move Evilore

LOL, you have some balls.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

You have balls, but this is out of our control.

 

[Alucrid]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

You just don't understaaaaand man.

 

[Myansie]

Censoring yourself isn't going to help. You have a voice on Gaf you might as well use it.

 

[StuBurns]

GIFs would come under fair use in practically any legal case, I know that's not the point, but still.

 

[C4Lukins]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Ehhhh. You were already on my ignore list for one reason or another. Not sure why.

Anyway If GoDaddy actually does change their policy then that should make everyone happy. That is the point of making your voice heard. If you are still going to punish them after they do the right thing, then why should they even listen?

 

[CrocMother]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

Apparently their declaration that they pulled their move was a shallow PR move to save face, and they still support the Bill.

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/npair/godaddy_has_not_withdrawn_its_official/

They have lost over 70,000 domains already so they had to do something to try and stop the bleeding. They have already helped advise Congress in the making of the bill. The cat's already out of the bag, it's too late to rescind their position.

 

[Dachande]

didnt godaddy repeal their support of SOPA? yesterday or the day before?

They made a PR statement, but didn't retract their support officially to the committee currently 'debating' SOPA (or something to that effect) and already made their pro-legislation case to them anyway. It was an empty gesture to attempt to win back some favour and no one's buying it. Check the last few pages of the SOPA thread on here for more.

 

[Lionheart1337]

Well now I'm torn.

*dead*

 

[Aquavelvaman]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

Internet boycotts are about spite, not results.

 

[youta]

I've had a .ca domain with a Canadian registrar for many years. It's a small but tightly run operation, and they've always been on the ball regarding this and other sensitive issues.

 

[BocoDragon]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

Did they change? Maybe the OP is not aware of that, or disagrees that they have changed their mind?

If it is as you say, then sure... Mission accomplished.

 

[spindashing]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

 

[Hop]

didnt godaddy repeal their support of SOPA? yesterday or the day before?

Not really, they did a PR-repeal but haven't taken any actions to reverse their legislative support and certainly haven't done anything to work against the bill like most other companies that actually are against it.

Switching domains isn't hard, per se, but it is effort. It's hard for it to go wrong but it's not impossible for it to do so.

 

[Haly]

So the real choice is between SOPA or Shanadeus?

 

[slit]

didnt godaddy repeal their support of SOPA? yesterday or the day before?

Yeah, they did but people want to see blood and I can't really blame them, but to be honest I don't think it matters anymore anyway. They have publicly pulled their support even though the move was completely transparent. It's over now, it's not like their support or lack thereof is going to make a big change in what happens next anyway.

 

[CrankyJay]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Well shit. At first I was against SOPA but now...

 

[jvalioli]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

The OP addressed this but probably not clear enough if you aren't following. GoDaddy never stopped supporting SOPA, despite the announcement on their twitter.

Very smart move by them since they semi killed this protest by confusing everyone. If people on GAF can't even keep it straight, how will the protest survive?

 

[Amir0x]

In the event GoDaddy is really still supporting SOPA and the PR statement was a lie, then yes obviously the boycott should still stand. But I'd wait a little longer for them to get their eggs in a row before abandoning something as important as neoGAF hosting just because we're angry at them. Clarity of thought is required, not rash decisions

 

[CrocMother]

[GoDaddy CEO] Adelman couldn’t commit to changing its position on the record in Congress when asked about that, but said “I’ll take that back to our legislative guys, but I agree that’s an important step.” But when pressed, he said “We’re going to step back and let others take leadership roles.” He felt that the public statement removing their support would be sufficient for now, though further steps would be considered.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/23/godaddy-ceo-there-has-to-be-consensus-about-the-leadership-of-the-internet-community/

pretty much says it all right there

 

[Evlar]

I'm really unclear on the links in the chain between what we oppose (the passage of a law to reduce the freedom of movement of information across the internet) and using websites that are registered through GoDaddy. We might be taking aim at the wrong parties here.

I see some clear stakeholders in this debate. IP owners like movie studios, RIAA, and such obviously have an interest in making the Internet as much of a digital storefront as possible, where nothing can be touched without being bought. End-users attracted to the internet for free access to content obviously have an interest in keeping the law off their backs for sending and receiving as much data as possible, more or less. GoDaddy doesn't clearly fall into either camp: they're an intermediary, and therefore must be chiefly interested in deflecting criminal or civil costs away from themselves whatever may happen. They would want to be involved in the process of shaping the law not because they're particularly interested in IP rights (they don't sell content!) but because they're interested in how laws guarding those IP rights impact them.

Going after GoDaddy may be a morale boost because they're a soft target and appear to fold easily, but they're not the primary movers in this thing. Pulling them away from the negotiating table on this may make the law worse. The real primary movers are the IP holders. Why aren't we boycotting them?

 

[(._.)]

please read:
a personal appeal from
NeoGAF member Subliminal

 

[C.Dark.DN]

I still don't think he wants to think about this during the holidays, especially after going through server changes and upgrades.

 

[Subliminal]

GoDaddy did announce that they were 'dropping support for SOPA' but there are still things to consider:

1. GoDaddy did support it in the first place, Its only when they started losing money they chose to make that statement, They've been with the bill since it started.

2. They haven't really dropped support after the announcement the CEO had an interview where he said GoDaddy are effectively sitting on the cyber fence, They're waiting for a message from the 'leaders of the internet' to tell them what choice to make. Their statement was simply a PR ploy.

As for alternatives, Lifehacker have compiled a bunch. http://lifehacker.com/5870649/ditch...-butt-and-get-a-better-web-host-at-a-discount They even have coupons to get a discount!

 

[Stumpokapow]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

1) They don't believe GoDaddy have actually changed their stance or their role in lobbying for SOPA, just their public statements to assuage their negative PR.

2) Some mistakes deserve consequences beyond a sincere apology. You may disagree that being involved in drafting SOPA is one of those mistakes, but as a categorical statement, companies can do things, apologize for them, and still be punished for having done them to begin with.

3) Why should anyone support GoDaddy to begin with? Registrars are all virtually identical, so this is a very low cost move. It's not like any boycott of GoDaddy is a high cost high consequence action. Oh no, the other registrar costed $0.45 a year more?!

In the event GoDaddy is really still supporting SOPA and the PR statement was a lie, then yes obviously the boycott should still stand. But I'd wait a little longer for them to get their eggs in a row before abandoning something as important as neoGAF hosting just because we're angry at them. Clarity of thought is required, not rash decisions

It has nothing to do with NeoGAF hosting. I have no position on EL switching registrars and I'm not representing moderation here, just my own opinion, but switching registrars is a pretty trivial action and has nothing to do with hosting whatsoever. I've switched registrars on my personal domains a half-dozen times. You might want to look up what a domain name registrar does. There's no technical case for or against switching, this is purely an argument of making a social point using economic voting power.

 

[Typographenia]

If EviLore did decide to change hosts, how difficult of a shift would that be?

I haven't a clue as to how those things typically go, but I would assume a site as big as GAF might prove to have some hiccups or difficulties in doing so. I'm super ignorant on that stuff.

 

[JonathanEx]

In the event GoDaddy is really still supporting SOPA and the PR statement was a lie, then yes obviously the boycott should still stand. But I'd wait a little longer for them to get their eggs in a row before abandoning something as important as neoGAF hosting just because we're angry at them. Clarity of thought is required, not rash decisions

Is NeoGAF actually hosted on GoDaddy, or is it just where the domain name is? As that changes things.

 

[Korey]

You guys don't make sense. I mean I'll put aside the idea that a topic like this is going to impact something as significant as server hosting for neoGAF for a minute.

goDaddy made a retarded decision to support SOPA. Everyone agrees. They got pestered about it by the internet, by everyone around and they CHANGED THEIR MIND. They did what everyone was asking them to! The whole point of protests like that is to get a company to change their position, in which case a boycott like Reddit posters propose is ended. That is in fact the whole motivation behind any Boycott. It ends once a company sees reason. GoDaddy saw reason; boycott should end.

If you guys don't let up when a company changes to ACCEPT your position, then people who are pushing it generally don't have any values worth caring about. The reason GoDaddy changed their position was laughable, but change they did. We should now be ending any boycott of them, unless they begin to support it once again.

GoDaddy didn't stop supporting SOPA, they just said they did to stop bleeding domains. Hours before they suddenly mysteriously decided to "stop supporting SOPA", they commented to Ars Technica that they weren't impressed by the boycott. They're also trying to erase all tracks of their previous blog posts supporting SOPA, and calling up people who transferred trying to get them back.

www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/npair/godaddy_has_not_withdrawn_its_official/

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/nokde/it_sounds_obvious_but_godaddys_sopa_flipflop_is_a/

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/npugo/godaddy_seems_to_be_delaying_sending_sopaangered/

http://www.reddit.com/r/SOPA/comments/npetg/godaddy_still_supports_the_protect_ip_act_pipa/

And the boycott is still on. Move Your Domain day is December 29, but people are encouraged to move their domains asap.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/nohs8/godaddy_mass_migration_day_still_on_for_december/

Also their CEO Bob Parsons' hunts elephants:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/bob-parsons-godaddy-ceo-elephant-hunt_n_843121.html

 

[forknknife]

When is SOPA made effective? Has it been voted on already or what? (European gaffer that has no clear idea on how this will affect him, but opposes any kind of censorship by default, anyway)

 

[Kraftwerk]

1) They don't believe GoDaddy have actually changed their stance or their role in lobbying for SOPA, just their public statements to assuage their negative PR.

2) Some mistakes deserve consequences beyond a sincere apology. You may disagree that being involved in drafting SOPA is one of those mistakes, but as a categorical statement, companies can do things, apologize for them, and still be punished for having done them to begin with.

3) Why should anyone support GoDaddy to begin with? Registrars are all virtually identical, so this is a very low cost move. It's not like any boycott of GoDaddy is a high cost high consequence action. Oh no, the other registrar costed $0.45 a year more?!

The madman has spoken!

 

[Aquavelvaman]

When is SOPA made effective? Has it been voted on already or what? (European gaffer that has no clear idea on how this will affect him, but opposes any kind of censorship by default, anyway)

It's wildly unconstitutional and will never be made effective but continue to panic for fun

 

[POWERSPHERE]

The question is WHY did they support it at all? Whats their agenda? That is more troubling and would call into view their corporate image and vision.

 

[Monroeski]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

Because everybody knows that the best way to fight the good fight against censorship is to use censorship.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Hm, this is unfortunate.
I shall refrain from posting on GAF until Godaddy has fulfilled their part in backing down (no, an apology alone is not enough - they need to take action now and use their powers to deny SOPA supporters domains) or GAF has moved away from Godaddy.

I bid you all farewell.

You are being held to this, by the way.