Seclists.org was shut down by GoDaddy at MySpace’s request for archiving a fulldisclosure mailing list posting of yet-another-list of MySpace user passwords. If GoDaddy were their web host I would understand, although not necessarily agree, with a takedown-first-and-ask-questions-later approach. But they weren’t hosting the content, GoDaddy was merely the domain’s registrar.
In my opinion a domain registrar or registry has no business intervening in this sort of dispute. ICANN’s FAQ agrees:
Where do I complain about material I have found posted on someone’s website?
If you have concerns about the content of a website, you should address your complaint to the site’s author, or the applicable Internet Service Provider depending on the circumstances. If you believe that the content is of an illegal nature, you should contact an appropriate law enforcement agency (which will vary depending on jurisdiction) or consult an attorney for legal advice.
ICANN is the private, not-for-profit technical coordination responsible for coordinating the unique assignment of Internet domain names and IP addresses. The content of an e-mail message, ftp file, or web page bear no inherent relation to the assigned domain name, and therefore fall outside of ICANN’s policy-making scope.
Sadly, section 5 of GoDaddy’s Universal Terms of Service give them the right to interfere for just about any reason they like:
Except as set forth below, Go Daddy may also cancel Your use of the Services, after thirty (30) days, if You are using the Services, as determined by Go Daddy in its sole discretion, in association with spam or morally objectionable activities. Morally objectionable activities will include, but not be limited to: activities designed to defame, embarrass, harm, abuse, threaten, slander or harass third parties; activities prohibited by the laws of the United States and/or foreign territories in which You conduct business; activities designed to encourage unlawful behavior by others, such as hate crimes, terrorism and child pornography; activities that are tortuous, vulgar, obscene, invasive of the privacy of a third party, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable; activities designed to impersonate the identity of a third party; illegal access to other computers or networks (i.e., hacking); distribution of Internet viruses or similar destructive activities; and activities designed to harm or use unethically minors in any way. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, in the event Go Daddy cancels Your Services during the first thirty (30) days after You purchase the Services, You will receive a refund of any fees paid to Go Daddy in connection with the Services being canceled. In the event Go Daddy deletes Your Services because they are being used in association with spam or morally objectionable activities, no refund will be issued. You agree You will not be entitled to a refund of any fees paid to Go Daddy if, for any reason, Go Daddy takes corrective action with respect to Your improper or illegal use of its Services.
I moved all of my domains from GoDaddy to 1and1 last year. 1and1’s Terms and Conditions make no mention of morality and object to very few things, and then only in the context of hosting.
Of course, the real reason that I switched to 1and1 was because their standard domain pricing is about as cheap as you can get and they do private registrations at no extra charge. The knowledge that I was no longer helping to finance their lame Superbowl commercials was a nice side-benefit too.
Update: Apparently this isn’t the first time that GoDaddy has yanked a domain registration due to content hosted elsewhere.
