[mwsherman]

This is the right outcome, and they should be commended. I think SOPA is awful, and they were on the wrong side of the argument. Subsequently, they listened to customers and changed their position. (Yes, it’s self-interest, just like you and I engage in.)

One should resist the urge to say “yeah but they’re still awful people” unless one is willing to bring the same passion to everyone else on the list of supporters.

Again: correct outcome and for the right reasons.

[marshray]

I don't think they should be commended for backing away (only after huge public outrage) from a position that was despicable in the first place.

I'm happy to forget about them for a while longer.

[mwsherman]

And that’s fine! They’ve turned you off as a customer, based on issues that are important to you.

I’m simply pointing out that (perhaps) outcomes matter a bit more than our indignant feelings.

[int3rnaut]

I totally agree with you. The real story here is that a large player in the internet (self proclaimed "World's #1 Domain registrar") crossed the line--to the "good side", therein lending more power to the cause of stopping this thing.

[marshray]

No, the "good side" is opposing censorship and DNS filtering.

Read what they wrote:

Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" currently working its way through U.S. Congress.

"Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," Warren Adelman, Go Daddy's newly appointed CEO, said. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."

They are explicitly just backing off on this specific bill with the intent to do it "better" in the future.

GoDaddy sounds to me like they're reaffirming their support of the principle of DNS-based censorship and the domain seizure practices they currently participate in.

[despite2]

But what is the outcome? In what way does this undo the damage? They submitted a letter of support, and I presume money, to Congress. A post on their web page does not take back any of that.

[mwsherman]

Good questions. The letter of support is negated, fair to say. Anyone know about money?

[white_devil]

They're guaranteed to be just as evil as before. They're just doing damage control: "Please stop leaving us in droves!"

It's naive to believe anything else.

[mwsherman]

That’s my point. “Evil” has nothing to do with it, unless we believe our industry to be populated by angels and devils.

Let’s focus on behaviors and incentives. Leaving in droves seems to have led to behavior we prefer. What to conclude?

[white_devil]

I've seen lots of separate instances of scummy behaviour by GoDaddy, long before this SOPA spectacle.

Money is the only incentive they need, and the only one they follow. A big company is all about maximizing profits at every turn.

What to conclude? -Nothing. GoDaddy is still just as full of shit as it was before today, and will continue shafting its customers and corrupting your government.

GoDaddy's problem was that people who manage Internet domains tend to be technical folks, aware of SOPA and against it. As a result of this combination, there were actual consequences to supporting SOPA. It just happens to be easy enough to protest by moving your domains away, so lots of people did.

This was purely an exercise in damage control, not an indication of anything actually changing at GoDaddy.