The GoDaddy Saga Continues

First time accepted submitter wbr1 writes "Domain registrar Namecheap is accusing GoDaddy of violating ICANN rules and hindering domain owners from moving their domains to another registrar. They are allegedly doing this by submitting incomplete information to the new registrar, making it difficult to process the move." Adds user bs0d3: "Godaddy has responded to these allegations today and insist that their practice of rate limiting Whois queries is standard practice to combat Whois abuse. Furthermore, they accuse Namecheap of playing foul because they released a statement before ever contacting godaddy directly to resolve these issues."

Who to believe?

[SJHillman]

I've heard a lot of great things about Namecheap from customers and third party reviewers. I'm considering moving one of my domains there to give them a try.

I've heard a lot of bad things about GoDaddy from customers and third party reviewers. I'd never consider giving them business - however, I do use them to find if a domain I want is already registered because their domain search is faster than a lot of other sites. I also used to work for a company that purchased SSL certificates from GoDaddy. Using their website is not fun and their customer service less so.

All things considered, I'd have to believe Namecheap over GoDaddy, regardless of how hot Danica Patrick is.

Sorry to bs03d

[wbr1]

When submitted this I had not looked at recent submissions and bs03d had submitted a story on the same subject, using the same title! [slashdot.org] I voted his up, but for some reason mine was accepted with additions from him.

But yeah! I got my first accepted submission on my first try. (Sarcastic self-congratulatory pack pat ensues).

I thought this was interesting for many reasons, but I can attest that incomplete information can hinder things very much. I have never worked directly with name registrations, but I used to process DNS records about 13 years ago, and it was painful when I would get an incomplete request.

Re:Namecheap is a good registrar

[InterestingFella]

Yes, you can use either their hosted DNS or your webhost/own server. Configuration is really easy and fast too, but still offers all the advanced options too. registrar-servers.com is their domain for hosted DNS, and I've never had problems with them (and they're one of the largest DNS hosters, too).

16 Domains.

[andydread]

Didn't plan on doing all this extra work during Christmas holidays. I just migrated 16 domains from GoDaddy to NameCheap. Wow I wish I knew they existed before hand. The interface is clean. NO endless checkboxes to uncheck. Thank you GoDaddy for introducing me to NameCheap. I am now GoDaddy-free and it feels really good. use SOPAsucks to get a discount. awesome.

Interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd never heard of Namecheep before this debacle and I found it curious how there were so very many references to it on Slashdot and the other new site forums. It was so dominant that my cynical side was wondering if it wasn't an astroturfing campaign.

Now we have these accusations. Frankly, at first blush, it sounds like dramatization on the part of Namecheep and standard incompetence excuses from GoDaddy. But, I also notice that only Namecheep is complaining. I don't see the same complaints from Network Solutions or Register et al, so I'm again wondering if this is some form of astroturfing because I am positive that GoDaddy has not targeting Namecheep exclusively.

Icann rules and whois

[pinfall]

Godaddy limits whois queries as is their limited right to do so. However, the ability to meter queries does not apply to the transfer of domains which must be a transparent process. The problem is that Godaddy can easily transfer bulk transfer out requests but they are getting stuck by their stupid registrant query limit.

The fact that Icann let them get away with this bs for so long is ineptitude. Remove this dumbass query limit and all is well.

Shitty business practices

[LoudNoiseElitist]

I moved to Namecheap a few months ago after becoming sick and tired of GoDaddy's shitty business practices. I decided to move to Namecheap shortly before my registrations with GoDaddy expired.

Before allowing me to transfer my domains, I was informed that I had to update my Whois info to make sure that it was accurate. There was no way to *not* do this. I could not begin the transfer process until this was done. I had done it a few months prior when ICANN requires yearly updates. This was something new.

Upon being forced to update my information (none of which was actually changed), my domains were forced into "locked" status, and thus prevented from being transferred for *two* months. Despite the fact that ICANN has released numerous statements saying that this behavior is not allowed, GoDaddy enforced this policy, despite me calling and talking to ten or fifteen different individuals.

I eventually had to renew each domain with GoDaddy, wait the two months, and then attempt the transfer to Namecheap again.

GoDaddy is a shit company, and I sincerely hope that an elephant tramples Bob Parsons.

Re:You don't get to be #1

[houstonbofh]

That is the truth. I had to consolidate registrars for a company. It was a challenge to get them all off GoDaddy. But it was a real battle to get them off NameCheap. For some I had to renew them with NameCheap before they would move them!

Pot, let me introduce you to this kettle here. I think you may have a lot in common.

Re:Who to believe?

[dgatwood]

They don't really register them. It's just domain tasting, and they can only do it for five days. Of course, with some bad luck, somebody else might come along and do the same thing for another five days, and so on. YMMV.

A pause from the Namecheap love fest

[Just Some Guy]

I transferred an expiring domain to Namecheap last week for reasons unrelated to GoDaddy's asshattery, but I saw a blog post (that I can no longer find, alas) pointing out something in Namecheap's TOS [namecheap.com] that bothers the hell out of me. Specifically:

You agree that Namecheap, in its sole discretion and without liability to you, may refuse to accept the registration of any domain name. Namecheap also may in its sole discretion and without liability to you delete the registration of any domain name during the first thirty (30) days after registration has taken place. Namecheap may also cancel the registration of a domain name, after thirty (30) days, if that name is being used, as determined by Namecheap in its sole discretion, in association with spam or morally objectionable activities (as well as any activities set forth in Section 4 above). Morally objectionable activities will include, but not be limited to 1) activities designed to defame, embarrass, harm, abuse, threaten, slander or harass third parties; 2) activities prohibited by the laws of the United States and/or foreign territories in which you conduct business; 3) activities designed to encourage unlawful behavior by others, such as hate crimes, terrorism and child pornography; 4) activities that are tortious, 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; 5) and activities designed to harm or use unethically minors in any way.

Note the part about "Namecheap in its sole discretion" and imagine that the guy answering the "abuse@" email is having a bad day. Suppose I have a blog on a domain registered through them and I:

1) Embarrass a local politician.
2) Get AdSense revenue from a post saying that the Egyptian government sucks.
3) Say I think it's OK for someone to smoke pot, even if it's illegal where they live.
4) Say something that someone, somewhere, thinks is vulgar or obscene.
5) Make fun of Justin Bieber.

Namecheap could decide in its sole discretion that any of those is sufficient to delete my domain from the registry. Frankly, that's bullshit. I know that Namecheap is unlikely to do something so boneheaded, but I'm utterly against them having the right to yank me off the Internet just because they don't like what I've said. And although I'm talking here about Namecheap specifically, I recognize that a lot of other registrars have similar terms. Does anyone use a more freedom-respecting registrar that they would recommend?