Go
Daddy Launches New Web Site To Raise Awareness of U.S.
Government’s Decision To Eliminate Private Registrations
[April 4, 2005]
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (April 4, 2005) – The Go Daddy
Group, Inc., parent company of GoDaddy.com, the No.
1 registrar of domain names, today announced the debut
of www.TheDangerofNoPrivacy.com, a web site devoted
to raising public awareness of a recent decision by
the U.S. Government to eliminate private registrations
for certain Internet domain names.
In
early February, the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (“NTIA”), which
is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, unilaterally
decided – without affording the public any opportunity
to comment -- that domain names bearing the .US extension
could no longer be made private. Private registrations,
which are offered by a variety of domain name registrars,
keep the domain name owner’s personal information,
i.e., name, address, phone number, email address, etc.,
from the publicly accessible WHOIS database. (The domain
name registrar providing the privacy service is responsible
for retaining the domain name owner’s personal
information.)
“There
are numerous, legitimate reasons why individuals wish
to keep their personal, identifying information out
of the WHOIS database,” said Bob Parsons, president
and founder of Go Daddy. “For example, private
registrations protect domain name owners from stalkers
and harassers, protect against spam and phishing email
intrusions, and deter identity and credit card theft.
They also allow people to operate a business out of
their home safely, and to speak anonymously –
a First Amendment right confirmed by the U.S. Supreme
Court.”
Nor
does the NTIA’s mandate “grandfather”
existing .US domain name owners. Owners of private .US
domain name registrations purchased prior to the edict
will be forced to either forfeit their privacy, or,
relinquish their domain name entirely, no later than
January 26, 2006.
To
encourage awareness as well as foster discussion and
debate over the NTIA’s decision, Go Daddy launched
www.thedangerofnoprivacy.com. Visitors to the site are
encouraged to sign a petition urging the NTIA to reconsider
its decision eliminating private .US domain name registrations.
Petitioners may express their individual comments on
the petition, and are also provided a means for contacting
their U.S. Representatives and Senators via fax or email
about the matter. Within the first 48 hours after the
site was launched, over 8,500 people signed the petition.
“The
NTIA has wholly disregarded the needs and desires of
thousands of law abiding citizens to keep their personal
identifying information out of the WHOIS database,”
Parsons added. “This is no different than forcing
every telephone company in America to reveal the details
of their unlisted telephone number registries. Worst
of all, the NTIA has refused to disclose the motivation
behind the decision to eliminate privacy protection,
and has further refused to reveal why it failed to hold
any public hearing or elicit comments of those affected,”
Parsons continued. “This decision deprives individuals
of their Constitutional right to privacy. It is not
the way our founding fathers intended our government
to work.”
About
The Go Daddy Group, Inc.
The
Go Daddy Group, the industry leader in domain name registration,
enables individuals and businesses to acquire, create,
and safeguard their unique identities and brands on
the Internet by offering a complete line of Web development
tools, including hosting, email systems, SSL certificates
and complementary products and services. The Go Daddy
Group companies include three ICANN-accredited domain
name registrars: flagship registrar GoDaddy.com (www.GoDaddy.com);
membership-based registrar Blue Razor Domains, Inc.,
(www.bluerazor.com);
and reseller registrar Wild West Domains, Inc., (www.wildwestdomains.com).
The Go Daddy Group also offers private domain name registration
services through Domains By Proxy, Inc., (www.domainsbyproxy.com).
The Go Daddy Group registers a new domain name every
7 seconds, and pioneered private registrations in September
2003.
Contact:
Doug Preston
Public Relations Specialist
480.505.8800 ext. 4061
dpreston@godaddy.com
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