This is truly upsetting. I am seriously considering pulling all my domains from GoDaddy unless they reverse their stance on this.
Update: 27BStroke6 has an audio recording of the voicemail Fyodor received as well as clear evidence that GoDaddy just doesn't get it:
I think the fact that we gave him notice at all was pretty generous.
Jesus. I think the fact that I'm going to contact them formally before pulling my domains is pretty generous.
Here is my original post:
This was extremely irresponsible! GoDaddy shoots first and asks questions in 1 to 2 business days!
A popular computer security Web site was abruptly yanked offline this week by MySpace.com and GoDaddy, the world's largest domain name registrar, raising questions about free speech and Internet governance.
Fyodor says in his post:
I woke up yesterday morning to find a voice message from my domain
registrar (GoDaddy) saying they were suspending the domain
SecLists.org. One minute later I received an email saying that
SecLists.org has "been suspended for violation of the GoDaddy.com
Abuse Policy". And also "if the domain name(s) listed above are
private, your Domains By Proxy(R) account has also been suspended."
WTF??! Neither the email nor voicemail gave a phone number to reach
them at, nor did they feel it was worth the effort to explain what the
supposed violation was. They changed my domain nameserver to
"NS1.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM". Cute, eh?
I called GoDaddy several times, and all three support people I spoke
with (Craig, Ricky, then Wael) said that the abuse department doesn't
take calls. They said I had email abuse_at_godaddy.com (which I had
already done 3 times) and that I could then expect a response "within
1 or two business days".
1. This website is a major nexus for communication in the computer security industry. Having it down for an extended period of time likely had a greater negative impact on Internet security on the whole than the disclosure of a list of MySpace passwords that are already known to spammers.
2. It is totally inappropriate to shut down an entire site based on such a brief attempt to contact the owner and it is totally inappropriate to have a 1 to 2 day turn around time on review of decisions of this magnitude.
3. Godaddy has created a new denial of service attack that can be employed to shut down any website that allows public posting and employs them for DNS services:
Step one: Post objectionable material.
Step two: File complaint with GoDaddy.
Step three: Website goes down.
4. They have the audacity to defend this decision!
GoDaddy's Jones said that "we're not knee-jerk--we try to be responsible about verifying complaints." There's a broad spectrum of policies among domain name registrars, she acknowledged, with GoDaddy "probably the most aggressive."
When asked if GoDaddy would remove the registration for a news site like CNET News.com, if a reader posted illegal information in a discussion forum and editors could not be immediately reached over a holiday, Jones replied: "I don't know...It's a case-by-case basis."
You DON'T KNOW if you'd shut down NEWS.COM based on a single complain with no prior notification!?!# Fyodor says:
Needless to say, I'm in the market for a new registrar.
If GoDaddy doesn't do something to address their policies I'll be in the same boat. What a major pain in the ass!
