GoDaddy Alert Back in August, I issued an "alert" about the goings on at GoDaddy.com. Bob Parson had tried to take the company public but withdrew his application after some of the information that was made public showed that GoDaddy.com had yet to have positive cash flow let alone profit. At the time, I recommended that if you used GoDaddy, that you should switch registrars. If you did, then the rest of this email will serve to let you know what a wise choice that was. If you still have domain names that are registered with GoDaddy, then read on to learn why you are in SERIOUS peril if you continue to use domain names registered with them. Here’s the scoop…. If GoDaddy gets a spam complaint about a domain name that is registered with them, they will shut you down. PERIOD!. They won’t give you a warning. They won’t contact you to get your side of the story. They will shut your domain account down, lock you out and demand that you pay $199 for each domain to restore your account with them. Max D on http://www.threadwatch.org/node/3785 writes: “We sent a request for a link trade to the wrong guy and he reported it as spam. Now Godaddy suspended 24 domains and is asking $199 each to get them back, a total of $4776 USD. The dns is redirected to godaddy abusednsblah so we get a 404 page and our domains are down and losing money. The abuse people work 9-5 and not on the weekend. Nothing short of blackmail. You have no recourse. You can contest the decision and have your domains offline for another week. Registrars should register domains not use it is as a source of revenues. The abuse department as usual can only be reached by mail and do not give a shit about your business. We spent the weekend transferring domains away from these people.” Now, first things first: Should you worry? If you’re using GoDaddy as a holding place for domain names that you have yet to activate, then , as of right now, you probably have nothing to worry about. (This document was created on 10-27-2006.) If you are using a domain name that is registered with GoDaddy for your active web site BUT you are using your ISP’s email for all outgoing correspondence, then you PROBABLY don’t have a reason to worry. If you have a forward set up to direct all incoming email from your GoDaddy domain name to your ISP and you use your ISP for outgoing mail, your risk is reduced. However, if you send an email from your ISP and REFERENCE your GoDaddy domain name, you are exposing yourself to risk. If however, you are using your GoDaddy registered domain name, you’re your website AND your email correspondence, then you need to be alarmed and take action. If you are using your GoDaddy registered domain name AND you are using their outdated and under powered servers, then you are in SERIOUS DANGER and you need to be alarmed and take IMMEDIATE action!!!! You need to not only transfer your domain name registrations; you also need to transfer your hosting. If you don’t know where to turn for help on this, contact me and I’ll be able to help. See, in my opinion, GoDaddy is using this ploy to extort money from you, so they’re really not interested in being “fair.” Fair would mean they contact you after the first complaint to get your side of the story. They're not doing this. In my opinion, they’re having cash flow problems and they see this as a solution. They can easily defend their actions by saying, “We hate spam and we’re doing something about it.” We all hate spam, but sending a reciprocal link request to someone is NOT spam and that’s what triggered this action for Max D. Everyone wants to shut down spam, but if ONE PERSON reports you to my ICANN registrar about using your domain name for spam, my ICANN registrar will contact you to get your side of the story first. Quite honestly, in my opinion, ONE report of spam shouldn’t be enough to trigger any action. After all, if you’re really “spamming” you’ll be generating a LOT more complaints than just one or two. However, one complaint will get you contacted in today’s world but it shouldn't get you shut down. I've posted a "how to transfer registrars" tutorial on Complete Coaching Services if you need help transferring your domain names. If you'd like, use my services. If not, be careful because THERE ARE WORSE REGISTRARS THAN GODADDY OUT THERE!!! Unfortunately, so far the one thing I've found in common with these shysters is that you can identify them by their ultra low prices! One really that’s really bad is 1and1.com. I had a client ask me about it so I tried it first. They offer domain name registrations for $5.99. Unfortunately, I registered a domain name that I had a use for and now I can’t get it freed from them. After I first registered the domain name, the first thing I did was go in to set the DNS to point to my servers. OOPS! You can’t do that with 1and1.com. So I got out my CC and bought hosting from them. It was only $13.74 for 6 months. (If you’re keeping track, right now my expenses for my new domain name are $19.73….a few pennies short of the cost of registering with my ICANN registrar.) Long story short, I can’t make any of their “easy” web hosting or web blog features work. Just getting the domain name to point to my account on their servers was a three day affair. In frustration, I tried to transfer the domain name to my ICANN registrar, and 1and1.com won’t release it. I’ve gone in, unlocked it and still they won’t let it go. There’s no phone number or even email support. In a few months, they’ll be charging my credit card again because there was no other option other than auto renew. Again, THERE ARE WORSE REGISTRARS THAN GODADDY OUT THERE!!! I've been very happy with my ICANN registrar for the past few years. They aren't the cheapest, but they have been reliable. Go to my web site at http:/www.virtualimpax.com/essentials.html. My service is not your only option. However, it's so hard to know if someone is acting as a reseller for GoDaddy.com. For example, I remember vaguely that Domain Direct used to be a reseller for GoDaddy's ICANN  registrar. However, if you go to http://www.domaindirect.com, you won't find any mention of GoDaddy. They are a reseller, and they acknowledge that fact in their fine print, but they don't say for WHOM. If you don't move to my service, make sure you deal DIRECTLY with someone who is ICANN approved. Whatever your choice, now is probably a good time to move domain names that are registered with GoDaddy to another registrar. I've included a tutorial you can download at http://www.completecoachingservices.com If you're not a member, you'll need to register and then you can grab it. Please, FEEL FREE to share the tutorial with your clients if they don't want to join the Complete Coaching Services web site. In the tutorial, I include a link to the complete list of the ICANN approved registrars. I'm still using GoDaddy to "grab" promising domain names, but once I "activate" them, I'm transferring them. My ICANN registrar has offered a special price on domain name transfers in response to this issue. It's only $13.97 to transfer domain names during this promotion. When you transfer, you get another year added to your registration so if you have 2 years left at godaddy, after the transfer you'll have 3 years. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Kathy Hendershot-Hurd http://www.virtualimpax.com phone: 772.336.0441