GoDaddy backtracks on its earlier support of SOPA; issues an apology

In a move that marks domain registrar GoDaddy’s latest reiteration of its opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Go Daddy's president extended an apology Thursday evening for initially supporting the proposed legislation.

With GoDaddy intending to go all out to mend its relations with domain holders who moved over to rivals over the SOPA issue, GoDaddy’s chief executive Warren Adelman said in an emailed statement to media outlets that Go Daddy’s opposition of the legislation stems from the fact that the act fails to fulfill its fundamental requisite of receiving the consent of stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities.

Revealing that GoDaddy had witnessed a surge in domain name transfers, which were running above regular rates, Adelman added that the spike in the domain name transfers was chiefly an upshot of “Go Daddy's prior support for SOPA, which was reversed.”

After initially supporting SOPA, GoDaddy backtracked by opposing the move on December 23. Despite the fact that GoDaddy no longer featured on the SOPA support list since its last week U-turn on the bill, rival domain registrars condemned its earlier transgressions and continued to advise Go Daddy domain holders to switch over.

With December 29 having been declared "MoveYourDomain Day" by Go Daddy’s rival Namecheap, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said that the campaign to persuade domain holders to leave Go Daddy kicked off on Reddit; with its success having apparently buoyed up SOPA critics to mull more direct action against anti-piracy legislation.