GoDaddy, who had professed support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), has seemingly learned a lesson you wouldn’t think they would have to learn – don’t tell the internet masses they can’t affect change. When told about a plan on Reddit, in protest of GoDaddy’s support of SOPA, to coordinate a mass domain exodus from his company, GoDaddy’s CEO was nonplussed. He didn’t see their sales being affected very much. Essentially, he waved red in front of a bull, because they have now been forced to admit they lost a staggering amount of domains due to this campaign.
The heroic (only partial hyperbole here) denizens of Reddit understand the danger of SOPA, and what it will mean to the internet. Under this legislation, for example, banks and credit card companies would be forced to cut off funds to websites accused of intellectual property theft. Note the word accused. No presumption of innocence. No due process. For a much better breakdown and explanation of the larger ramifications of SOPA, see this Google Doc called “SOPA for Dummies.”
Jim Cooper (D-TN), my congressman, told the Nashville Scene “we must stop the damage that online copyright piracy causes our performers and songwriters without undermining the spirit of the Internet and our freedom of speech.” This is all well and good, but his sentiment is undermined by the continuing revolving door between government and lobbyists. Two senior aids for the congressman sponsoring this legislation, Lamar Smith (R-TX), are now going to work for entertainment lobbying firms. Of course, it’s the entertainment industry that has long been a proponent of any law that limits how intellectual property can be used.
Now, Reddit is taking aim at the politicians who are supportive of SOPA. The first one they are going after is Bob Corker (R-TN). In an effort to be non partisan, a Democrat will soon also be in their crosshairs. This shouldn’t be too hard since, tragically, this is the one issue that seems to bring Republicans and Democrats together. So, this coming election season, we’ll see if Bob Corker is the first politician to be “GoDaddy’d.”