GoDaddy was a SOPA supporter and then thousands of tweets, blog posts, and domain migrations later, GoDaddy changed their postion to being against SOPA’s present wording/form. Given the situation, they responded as well as can be expected.
People are quick to pile on. I admit I’m one of the “pilers.” If I have a connection, my typical post is “Say it ain’t so”. A former co-worker is a sysadmin there. If I’m outraged, I’ll describe my feelings. I wasn’t outraged - but I was surprised.
What happened next was laudible and characteristic of a well-managed company that goes “HOLY CRAP, WE BETTER ENGAGE”. They did. I got a few calls - from GoDaddy management as well as sales.
I have more than a few domains and sites (and less than many of the larger companies) that are parked or hosted at GoDaddy. Someone called me out publicly and asked why I was still using them. I said that there is no one click solution to moving business from one provider to another. Some claim it but it is time consuming and resource intensive. Move them in January? I don’t think so!
When someone from sales called, they had just completed an account review and noticed that they could save me about $500 / year by changing hosting plans. When someone from their management team called me, they listened and promised they would continue to listen.
Management acknowledged continued feedback about their management interfaces. I stated they were overloaded with marketing messages when I was already a customer. Visual pollution is what I think I said. They acknowledged my statement as consistent feedback from other customers. They gave me email contacts and stated that they would be monitoring them.
As I have said before, I am hopeful they continue to listen.
I think everyone expected something miraculous to come as the result of the overwhelming negative response in public forums; however, they are professionally run (now) and I believe they will turn the page and do everything they can to put this experience to use as a lesson and in the past as a _really_bad_experience.
(I have not been paid nor am I a direct owner of any shares of GoDaddy-related companies.)
Please engage and let’s get this fixed. I believe artists who wish to protect their content should be allowed to protect it - but let’s do this the right way - without changing the internet.
It occurred to me that there are more than a few ways to fight SOPA. Here are a few:
1. Write Your Representatives
2. Boycott anyone on this list
List of SOPA Supporters as recorded by the House Judiciary Committee
3. Sign an electronic petition.
About Boycotting and Activism
Boycotting the folks above includes not donating to their causes, not buying their goods and services, speaking to those around you who might use their goods and services, and directly contacting their places of business. There are a number of entertainment businesses on this list. Remember that your boycotting activities would include the entire food chain - all of their suppliers, their customers, etc. It might be your friends and neighbors who are part of it.
Many of these organizations are publicly held; therefore, you can go to Yahoo Finance and look up their officers and boards of directors. If you want to make an impact, write them. Their contact information is there too!
Things you might notice: If you’re a startup, many Venture Capital firms have not voiced their concerns over SOPA. Why? Perhaps some of their portfolio companies in the entertainment supply chain.
This took me ten minutes to write. Can you imagine if everyone spent ten minutes to try to stop SOPA?
