Startup JotForm has had their site suspended due to some user-generated content that someone complained about. This is a big deal for them. If the domain stays down long enough (and it probably will), their business is toast - all this based on some random complaint from "the secret service" that they seem not to have had a chance to answer.
Wait a minute, you say, I thought SOPA didn't pass?
Actually, if you host your domain with GoDaddy, you live in a post-SOPA world already where your domain can be taken down without due process based on complaints about user-generated content.
As someone on Hacker News put it:
Seriously. I was prepared to be sympathetic until I saw GoDaddy's involvement. Jotform chose to use a despicable company with a long history of behaving in this way. They shouldn't be surprised when they're the next to get screwed.
That's perhaps a bit strong, as are the calls to use only non-US registrars. I don't think the fact that they're US-based is the main factor. If Google was a registrar, you could probably trust them not to bend over at the first request to shut down a domain.
That being said, hosting with GoDaddy is pretty silly given their repeated offenses against both decency and free speech. If you're hosting with GoDaddy, transfer your domains off today.
If you read this far, you should follow me on twitter here.
