Domain Registrars Play Battleship. “Sink #SOPA”
It’s been a while since I did a blog post on here. I’ve had a lot to think about since I did the last serious blog post here. One of those things that I’ve been thinking about is how the internet, and the regulations that come along with the internet, affect me, as someone who uses the internet as a way to make money (or as the government calls it, participates in e-commerce). Now it was for the longest time, that as a marketer you really only needed to worry about the FTC, the federal trade commission which can pop you for making big claims etc. Well anyhow, over in the states their government is bringing in laws that literally have the ability to put a dent in the internet infrastructure of the United States.
…And it’s causing Domain Registrars to play BATTLESHIP!
So let’s start out first things first with what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about an act that will probably pass in the United States very soon, called “SOPA” (Stop Online Piracy Act). To put it in wikipedia’s words “proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites”.
And well the idea behind protecting people’s intellectual rights is all fine & dandy, the act contains some rather “scary” things which will actually cause the freedom of an American internet user to be a great risk. For example one of the clauses of the bill, found here on CNET, says that the US Government will be able to ban the online privacy system “The Onion Router”, because it allows users to access websites that the US government will block with SOPA. Essentially, what that says is the US wants to put a filter (kinda like you have a work/school) to block websites that they say break their laws.
That means if the US doesn’t like your product or service, they can pull technicalities out of their hat, to make the entire USA not see your site.
That is at least how it was put, by one marketer in a short e-mail I received the other day. This morning, a debate ensued after a Domain registrar named “GoDaddy” published a statement where they essentially said, that they are in full support of SOPA Passing. In response, namecheap.com issued a coupon code for people to transfer their domains from GoDaddy to them, because of GD’s support of SOPA. This message was also used by name.com, who issued the coupon code “NODADDY” later today, saying basically “get out of there” to their customers, in a message posted on their blog.
So what does this all mean? Well it means the internet is changing, and the US is trying to gain more power over the internet. This is not good for the everyday user, because having a filter on your connection, is well, not something that should happen in a free country, and seems to ruin the free spirit of the internet. It’s nice to see that other companies are standing up (although they are competitors) to agree with those fighting against the bill. Hopefully they can sink all GoDaddy’s ships.
Cheers
Caleb
Sources:
http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/22/we-say-no-to-sopa/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
http://blog.name.com/2011/12/getting-on-our-sopa-box-and-saving-you-money/
