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StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

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Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#21

Post by d_r »

Perhaps off-topic, but after reading GoDaddy's letter, I am surprised that our discussions against SOPA don't focus on the root -- the fact that the legislation is presented in an incredibly misleading and vague manner.

At face value, its purpose is to stop the foreign counterfeit drug/goods sellers -- you know, the same guys who spam us with "enlarge your..." and such offers. The same guys who pollute Google search results with "buy handbags" trash. Now suppose someone had asked you: "do you want legislation against these foreign illegal drug sellers?" Surely you'd say yes. Heck, I'd say yes. What reasonable person would oppose this?

But the problem is that the legislation is presented as this, but is actually likely going to be used for other things (censoring online content, special interests of the movie industry, etc.)

So when we write to our congresspeople and explain our concerns with SOPA, I wonder: do they think "Hmm, I am just protecting the internet from so-and-so baddies selling drugs. Why are all these tech people suddenly up in arms about this? Do they somehow not want to stop those baddies?"

When we write, we say that we oppose SOPA. Would we be more effective if we asserted that we do hate those sellers and oppose SOPA because of its specific implications? Unless of course, the bad "side effects" are actually the main purpose and the "good" cause is just a very clever gimmick.

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#22

Post by steve918 »

onedognight wrote: post #19
markbao wrote: post #15

I cannot believe how many people are using the worst domain registrar in existence, even if you don't consider SOPA support. Out of all of the domain registrars, why GoDaddy?

Name another registrar that is cheaper and comes with DNS?

eNom, Namecheap, like all of them?

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#23

Post by BrandonM »

onedognight wrote: post #19
markbao wrote: post #15

I cannot believe how many people are using the worst domain registrar in existence, even if you don't consider SOPA support. Out of all of the domain registrars, why GoDaddy?

Name another registrar that is cheaper and comes with DNS?

Why do people equate registrars with DNS? Wherever you're hosting your site is where you should be handling DNS.

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#25

Post by jpdoctor »

d_r wrote: post #21

Perhaps off-topic, but after reading GoDaddy's letter, I am surprised that our discussions against SOPA don't focus on the root -- the fact that the legislation is presented in an incredibly misleading and vague manner. At face value, its purpose is to stop the foreign counterfeit drug/goods sellers -- you know, the same guys who spam us with "enlarge your..." and such offers. The same guys who pollute Google search…

I don't think it's off-topic at all. What you are describing is how the topic is "framed", and is why companies pay large sums to lobbyists and PR firms.

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#26

Post by long »

dangrossman wrote: post #8
jws wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only time American Express has called me has been twice on my Gandi payment. Makes you wonder about their fraud algorithms. Surely Amex can see I make the same payment every year, or maybe that is the mark of a patient and not greedy fraud. FWIW I haven't had any troubles in the last few years.

My bank used to lock my Visa card every month when my landlord charged my rent. Same day every month, same company every month, same amount every month. Every 5th of the month I'd have to call my bank and confirm that the charges weren't fraudulent to get it unlocked, or I'd end up at a grocery store unable to pay my bill. I put up with it because I was earning a ton of cash back having my rent charged to a rewards c…

I've thought about doing this but I think my landlord only takes a check.

How are you able to charge rent to a card? Did you sweet-talk the guy?

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#27

Post by AgentConundrum »

suhair wrote: post #24
mekoka wrote: post #2

Actually, what surprises me is that SO would be registered with them in the first place.

It is registered way back in 2003. may be not many popular alternatives then.

StackOverflow didn't exist until 2008, so I doubt Jeff & Joel registered the name in 2003. When they bought it off whoever first registered it, they could have easily moved it to someone else. ServerFault.com (by which I mean the domain, not the site) has only existed since 2009. Clearly they had the option not to go with GoDaddy then as well, just as they did with all the other SX domains.

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#28

Post by dangrossman »

long wrote: post #26
dangrossman wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bank used to lock my Visa card every month when my landlord charged my rent. Same day every month, same company every month, same amount every month. Every 5th of the month I'd have to call my bank and confirm that the charges weren't fraudulent to get it unlocked, or I'd end up at a grocery store unable to pay my bill. I put up with it because I was earning a ton of cash back having my rent charged to a rewards c…

I've thought about doing this but I think my landlord only takes a check. How are you able to charge rent to a card? Did you sweet-talk the guy?

> How are you able to charge rent to a card? Did you sweet-talk the guy?

I was renting a townhome in a community owned by a large rental agency that did both residential and short-term business rentals, fully furnished homes at a higher rate. I'd guess accepting credit cards was more to cater to the business side, but they'd take them from any tenant that asked.

Most landlords won't because they'd lose 1-3% of the rent to the transaction fees.

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#29

Post by thomasgerbe »

awt wrote: post #20
thomasgerbe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's cheap, popular, and most people don't interact with their domain registrar aside from registration and renewal. Why do people buy clothes made in sweat shops or from chains that are terrible to it's employees? A lot of it just comes down to cost. And even if you know how terrible something is (morally or ethically), some people aren't willing to change.

I don't think markbao was referring to their morality in his post, simply their terrible, terrible usability. I think also cost is not the reason, especially for the low numbers we're talking about. I would say people use GoDaddy because of GoDaddy's successful online and on air advertising campaigns.

"I think also cost is not the reason, especially for the low numbers we're talking about."

While I agree that their campaigns have been effective, I tend to disagree that cost isn't an issue. Heck, even I was informed of other registrars a few years back when I was first starting to host my own sites but GoDaddy was cheaper than my webhost for domain registration. Plus easy to find coupon codes also give additional value. Why bother paying an extra 5-10 dollars when, for most people, there isn't much difference after the initial registration? (I ask that rhetorically)

Re: StackOverflow also planning to switch from GoDaddy due to SOPA concerns.

#30

Post by vinhboy »

steve918 wrote: post #22
onedognight wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name another registrar that is cheaper and comes with DNS?

eNom, Namecheap, like all of them?

This is something I never understood. I am not a sys-admin by any means, but I have never used a registrar, or host that does not have free DNS.

However, I have seen people pay for DNS hosting, separate from their registrar... which is odd to me.

Is this one of those things that was not available back in "good ol-days", so all the sys-admin thinks you have to worry about it separately?

Or is there some sort of benefit to having multiple DNS providers?

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