GoDaddy Stops Offering Chinese Domains

from the taking-a-stand dept

It seems that with Google now taking a stand on Chinese policies, other companies are at least stepping up a bit as well. GoDaddy, who I believe is the largest domain registrar around, is going to stop offering .cn domains, after China put in place new rules, requiring registering with the government and providing all sorts of personal info, including a photograph and identity cards. GoDaddy says it sees these new rules as a "threat to the security of individuals," though it almost certainly has noticed the good publicity Google has received for its stance, combined with the political winds suggesting new laws to punish American companies that help censorship abroad.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: china, domain names
Companies: godaddy


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 24 Mar 2010 @ 1:52pm

    Lawyer-in-the-know...

    The lawyer who founded GoDaddy is nobody's fool (though he sucks to work for) and no doubt is looking for some of the admiration/recognition that Google is getting.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    DJ, 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:00pm

    I'm still baffled....

    ...that nobody bothered to take notice of the fact that China is a COMMUNIST COUNTRY! Of course they're going to want this kind of control over their people.

    Oh wait, I forgot that communism is the new way to go....Too bad EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE of it in history has ended in genocide of the citizens.....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anon, 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:22pm

    Re: I'm still baffled....

    Actually, China is socialist, not communist. The only two communist countries left in the world are North Korea and Cuba.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:37pm

    Re: Re: I'm still baffled....

    Meh, this discussion has already been had on this site in the past, but despite what they call themselves, NONE of those countries actually practice communism. Most/all are some odd meld of socialism and authoritarianism....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    a-dub (profile), 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:44pm

    The whole Google leaving China thing is like a breath of fresh air. Its nice to see other companies doing the same and I look forward to seeing other companies pull out of China as well. Its amazing how much crap people/companies will accept if they can make a $.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Ivan, 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:46pm

    Re: Re: I'm still baffled....

    According to the cia, it's a communist state...

    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

    Government type:
    Communist state

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Michial Thompson, 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:46pm

    Loyalties will come back to bite these companies

    I understand taking a political stand in the world, and feeling that when your Google's size almost HAVE to take a stand.

    But it's really getting old watching American's try to force their will on how every country out there works. Each country has a populace, and those people have a right and responsibility to live the way they choose. If they don't like what their government is doing they need to change it.

    America is not the world's moral authority anymore than little mikee is the copyright authority...

    For these companies to take a stand against China they might want to look in the mirror pretty soon. China's got the largest single population in the world, and while their policies may change due to pressure from Americans, it's just as likely that they will ban Google and GoDaddy etc from doing business in their country as well after they change.

    Companies should leave the politics to the politicians and the business to the businessmen. When they try to use politics to market/advertise it's a double edge sword.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Ivan, 24 Mar 2010 @ 2:49pm

    Re: Re: I'm still baffled....

    According to the cia, it's a communist state...

    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

    Government type:
    Communist state

    And according to wiki there are 4 countries that are a communist states, China, Cuba, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Vietnam.

    North Korea on the other hand is a socialist state.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Grumpy (profile), 24 Mar 2010 @ 3:12pm

    Let's stay on topic, please

    About GoDaddy: I might be an old cynic but isn't GoDaddy benefitting enormously by registering domains for s[cp]ammers, many of them using .cn sites? This story doesn't sit well with me. There must be something fishy going on that we just haven't seen yet. Are they afraid of a crackdown on their criminal customers followed by the burning light of the Daystar on their own dealings?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2010 @ 3:34pm

    godaddy blows

    Goddady is a miserable company to do business with, and the owner is a complete asshole, worse than the owner of Whole Foods. I've moved all thirty of my domains away from them a while ago due to him, and their pushy up-sells.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2010 @ 4:01pm

    Re: Loyalties will come back to bite these companies

    Google's publicly stated position is that they can't continue to operate in China if the nation continues to sponsor electronic warfare against their systems. It doesn't have anything to do with enforcing America's morals on anyone. The issue of censorship is just a lever.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2010 @ 5:01pm

    I too am going to turn this into a bash Bob Parsons thread but something about him strikes me as REALLY sleazy.

    I think the .cn domains just turned a lot more expensive and this allows them to back out and save face. I agree that they are probably doing some nefarious stuff with .cn domains or maybe they just "don't know... wink.. wink".

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    Txknight (profile), 24 Mar 2010 @ 6:36pm

    I would admire them more, if they had publicly came out years ago and refused to enter the Chinese market at all, but wait, China spends American dollars and they wanted it, now they want to stand up and seem to have developed morals and "take a stand", ridiculous, they want the attention of being a "good" company to try to make more money, greed as usual nothing new here

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. icon
    mike allen (profile), 25 Mar 2010 @ 12:26am

    I have never liked Go Daddy so have avoided using it as other people have said should never have moved into china in the first place.
    now when will they pull out of the UK.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Ben, 25 Mar 2010 @ 12:35am

    I also just read a couple of other interesting reports. A report from India is saying that Dell is considering pulling out of China. China is officially saying that they are still a reliable government with which to make investments.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Ben, 25 Mar 2010 @ 12:40am

    Re: Loyalties will come back to bite these companies

    America is the world's moral authority, whether you like it, or not. I prefer America's moral authority, flawed as it is, to China's.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2010 @ 6:54am

    Re: Re: Loyalties will come back to bite these companies

    America is the world's moral authority?? Bloody hell, not a world I particularly want to live in. America has to have the most ballsed up, contradictory morals in the world..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 25 Mar 2010 @ 7:08am

    Re: Let's stay on topic, please

    "There must be something fishy going on that we just haven't seen yet."

    Yeah we have seen it, it has something to do with the fact that china steals all tech that comes into it. If you look at RIM (makers of the blackberry) all of their stuff is made in mexico for a reason. There has been a slow realization that IP theft is rampant in china. That products are coming out with modifications not part of the original designs. That the quality is substandard and toxic (ie sheet rock that peels chrome, milk products that kill children, lead based paint on toys, radioactive tuna cans, batteries that explode, etc). That now that they have a manufacturing base they really dont need foreign investment anymore but they do to gain access to new technology.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.