GoDaddy Attacks Torrent Sites

[Ben]

GoDaddy (domain registrar) started to ban Bittorrent sites. The first site they banned is Mybitorrent. The next step could be mininova, isohunt or torrentspy. These three belong to the biggest (torrent) site on the web and are all registered with GoDaddy.

http://m-ook.com/post/1/412?name=godaddy-attacks-torrent-sites&page=

 

[dgridley]

Was just reading about this courtesy of Digg.. I wonder what the responsibility of the registrar is.. I mean, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a domain registrar policing the Net.

 

[nick-8318]

This is wrong....Web Hosters should be in charge of what gets on a webpage not registars

 

[robertjr]

Just posted:

***UPDATE: Thanks to all our readers and the readers on Digg and other blogs for your support! A rep from GoDaddy has Called and "cleared up the misunderstanding" they Will restart the DNS services for MyBitTorrent.com and allow MyBittorrent to freely transfer to another registry of their choice. Again the power of Blogging has prevailed! *** Godaddy did the right thing!

A few hours ago mybittorrent.com domain was taken hostage by godaddy.com. the reason I am calling this as being taken hostage is godaddy has stated they will release the domains if mybittorrent.com's admin, watcher pays $50US per

domain. I am really concerned with the ethics and legality of this action as mybittorrent.com has never been sued or charged formally with any illegal actions in any country and over 1000 other bittorrent sites are registered with godaddy. Not only has godaddy taken this action against mybittorrent.com without any formal warning but has also refused to release the domains for transfer even though several registries have agreed to take them in. We will report more on this story later.... for now anyone interested in supporting mybittorrent reclaim their domain names please donate to mybittorrent domain fund

 

[TT]

Again Bob and I disagree on something, Nothing new there

 

[graywolf30]

Okay, I have to ask what a torrent site is. I tried figuring it out from the link ben posted, but still have no clue. Can someone fill me in please?

Thanks!

Renee

 

[Ben]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent

 

[blastds]

All they have to do is put a lawsuite out there, and have a good case.

 

[AmD950]

Do registrars have rights to ban out the domains? I thought that should be done by the company who host the website, not the domain registrar.

 

[Momo]

***UPDATE: Thanks to all our readers and the readers on Digg and other blogs for your support! A rep from GoDaddy has Called and "cleared up the misunderstanding" they Will restart the DNS services for MyBitTorrent.com and allow MyBittorrent to freely transfer to another registry of their choice. Again the power of Blogging has prevailed! *** Godaddy did the right thing!

I am glad to hear this. I hope GoDaddy won't do that thing again, else domain owners will surely lose their trust in them, since they won't feel secured enough that their domain won't be taken away from them.

Hosts have the right to suspend servicing to sites, but registrars shouldn't have the right to hold these domains.

 

[JAugusto]

Bye Bye GoDaddy! Never more!

 

[seeker]

for people who have had at least a couple of years experience in this business, I fail to understand why on Earth they would keep *any* name at GD (barring the ones that can not be transferred like .ws).
GD has proven itself time and time again to be a disasterous registrar to work with when it comes to the rights of domainers.
I understand their pricing and heavy advertising has a strong apeal, especially to new people in the business, but there are so many better places out there for the same or better pricing!!!
at some point, most people entering this business go through GD. But after a while, a fast exit should really not be just an option, but a smart and necessary move.
they are the most antgi domainer registrar on the net. They are ok for having a name here and there, but do NOT keep your portfolio with them, and surely do not get a reseller account through them (WWD), they do actually canibalize their own resellers with their pricing structure and have been doing so since late 2003.

 

[dsforsaken]

on digg.com they said someone contacted godaddy about this and they said that they are not stopping torrent sites and will restore mybittorrent.com

 

[photoshopfreak]

No matter what Godaddy does now is irrelevant, they messed up big time!

Godaddy was wrong to think they can police content, nothing in the domain name is illegal so what on earth do they think they were doing??

 

[theparrot]

At this point after GoDaddy has been caught shutting down joe-jobed domains, refusing to take credit cards off file that are attached to a domain, and selling a domain in their service while telling the owner who paid to renew it that it had expired so they could not help (when they renewed it and pushed it to a new owner), I can not believe ANYONE in the know would use them and not be transfering as many domains away from them as they can.

 

[seeker]

At this point after GoDaddy has been caught shutting down joe-jobed domains, refusing to take credit cards off file that are attached to a domain, and selling a domain in their service while telling the owner who paid to renew it that it had expired so they could not help (when they renewed it and pushed it to a new owner), I can not believe ANYONE in the know would use them and not be transfering as many domains away from them as they can.

amen....

 

[WebmasterTalk.us]

This is a good reason why I don't register domains with GoDaddy, unless I have to.

 

[cache]

From business perspective, do GD get more customers if it refuses certain names?

 

[Dave_Z]

Do registrars have rights to ban out the domains? I thought that should be done by the company who host the website, not the domain registrar.

Yes they do. And you agree to their terms the second you checked the box
beside the "I have read the Service Agreement and agree to its terms".

Guys, what you've got to realize here is that Go Daddy and other registrars
who charge near rock-bottom prices for .com domains are paying a big price:
they're allowing just about anyone, especially those with negative intent, to
register domains and use them for just about anything illicit. To make it worse,
some of these people are not using the registrar's DNS to carry them out.

And when you get tons of people complaining to the registrar about them,
how exactly does one handle them as effectively and efficiently as possible?

I don't agree with their approach either. But this is another reality registrars
just have to face and deal with as best as they can.

Nowadays when I shop around some potential registrars, I base my choice on
the following:

1. Price and services offered.
2. Type of support.
3. Approach to certain issues.

If they satisfy especially the 3rd, I choose them. Otherwise, I move on.

 

[irishmat]

what registrar would you recommend then?