Except, they are an internet Registrar... essentially a Utility.
No they are not. They are not a utility company, precisely because there are a ton of other registrars.
Do they have a right to or should as a business? Sure... as a conservative I believe they have a right to do business with whomever they want... the BIGGER issue is just how they are fine taking your money, then DROP YOU and screw your business at the dime of a hat.
Really? Dime of a hat? Terms of service is not dime of a hat. ToS violations (Assuming based on
@JB Lions 's comment it is a ToS violation) must be dealt with else it tends to subvert the terms due to precedence and, also in doing so, creates a discriminatory situation.\
In either case, IF we are saying that Internet is the new commons, they have to be held accountable and cannot drop you for doing something totally legal.
Do you know the full situation? Can you say with complete confidence that there isn't a violation of ToS? Yes, I do personally think that there might be a different interpretation of the ToS that GD is using but so what? This is done pretty much by every single organization, government (for laws and rules), lawyers et all. Because ToS, in some cases, can be subjective, there is always an ambiguity when enforced.
In either case, Screw GoDaddy... I moved about 200 domains from them and cancelled my auctions membership.
This is the correct response. Not claiming that they are censoring or violating freedom of speech (they're not doing both) but hit them where it should hurt them - on the wallet
Btw, would you still feel it is not a big deal if they just shut down your domains with no warning because you have Pokemon domains? Because they hate Pokemon? Or how about AMD domains because they are Intel Fanboys. lol.
It is a big deal but there WAS a warning. A 24-hour warning. If there was no warning, then the domain would have gone down from before you even posted this thread. It might not be convenient but there WAS a warning issued.
The issue, *IMO*, isn't that the website sold guns. Look at the post from JB lions. This is the issue! They are organizing another potential riot/insurrection/attack whatever you wanna call it on the website's forums. Therein lies the problem. This does violate GD's ToS and they have the right to boot the domain. IANAL, if not done, they might get into legal trouble for supporting activity.
Edit: I can't believe I'm defending GD (Though I'm not). TBC, I'm defending GD's right to take this action. Substitute GD for any other registrar and my point still stands.
For those who are lauding about Epik, remember - Epik booted 8kun (or 8chan at that time) as well for their content. Why is this okay and Epik still a hero for taking a similar action but GD (or any other registrar) a leftist liberal pro-censorship cretin?