How Legislation Can Affect Domain Registration
Everything is connected on the Internet. It has to be, in order to be found in the first place. Search engine algorithms always emphasize the fact that the more links a web page has, the better it will be for its page rank – that is how tightly woven the Internet is. While the web has also been criticized as an ecosystem with no natural predators, every so often, something comes up that rouses the Internet community. This rarely happens, but when it does, it is a sight to behold – the whole global Internet community rising up in unison.
This happened late last year, when GoDaddy, a domain registration company – meaning a completely Internet-based service – announced that it was supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act currently getting some steam in US legislation. When this announcement was made, a huge chunk of GoDaddy clients immediately began packing up their business seeking another company that could transfer and register domains for them. This was done without much hesitation nor planning – a prime example of global trending as a final hurrah for 2011.
Of course you know the rest of the story. Any time an Internet-based business faces an indignant Internet community, the business backs down. Soon after the announcement, GoDaddy retracted its statement and support from the SOPA – too late a move for some businesses that had already transferred their operations, but still, a good move to save whatever was left of the business. It was fortunate that GoDaddy owns a huge chunk of the domain registration business, otherwise it would really have been a costly mistake.
Related posts: