BottomBounce
6 days ago
GoDaddy has faced numerous lawsuits and legal issues, including those related to data security, antitrust, and consumer protection, with recent actions from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlighting concerns about lax security practices and misleading customers.
Here's a more detailed look at some of the key lawsuits and legal issues surrounding GoDaddy:
Data Security and Privacy:
FTC Action:
The FTC announced a proposed settlement order against GoDaddy, alleging that the company failed to implement reasonable security measures to protect website hosting environments and misled customers about the extent of its data security protections.
Security Breaches:
GoDaddy has faced criticism and lawsuits related to data breaches, including those affecting Managed WordPress customers and exposing email addresses, database credentials, and other information.
Lax Security Practices:
The FTC complaint detailed GoDaddy's alleged failure to inventory and manage assets, assess risks, adequately log and monitor security events, and segment shared hosting from less-secure environments.
Breach Response:
GoDaddy has been criticized for its response to security breaches, including a statement that it remediated the situation and implemented security measures after confirming an intrusion.
FTC Settlement:
The FTC's proposed settlement order would require GoDaddy to improve its information security program and take steps to protect customer data.
Antitrust and Market Power:
Entri Lawsuit:
A startup, Entri, filed an antitrust lawsuit against GoDaddy, alleging that the company used its market power to deter customers from using Entri's software tools and compelled them to use GoDaddy's own competing tools.
Entri's Claims:
Entri claimed that GoDaddy's actions constituted "negative tying," where domain registration services were conditioned on customers not using Entri's products.
Federal Judge's Ruling:
A federal judge denied GoDaddy's motion to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit, stating that Entri had presented enough evidence to suggest that GoDaddy's actions might have led to a loss of prospective business for the startup.
Entri Drops Lawsuit:
Entri and GoDaddy reached a mutual decision to dismiss all claims and counterclaims with prejudice, indicating that both parties have resolved their issues outside of court.
Consumer Protection and Misrepresentation:
Class Action Lawsuits:
GoDaddy has faced several class action lawsuits, including those alleging misrepresentation of web hosting services, fraudulent concealment, and violations of consumer protection laws.
Dedicated Server Misrepresentation:
A class action lawsuit alleged that GoDaddy charged customers for superior dedicated server services while providing inferior virtualized servers, concealing this fact from consumers.
Domain Registration and Renewal Fees:
Another class action lawsuit alleged that GoDaddy misrepresented the "free" private registration service as a lifetime benefit, while automatically renewing the service at full price upon renewal.
TCPA Lawsuit:
GoDaddy faced a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit, alleging that the company violated the TCPA by calling and texting consumers using an automatic telephone dialing system to market its products.
11th Circuit Vacates Settlement:
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the approval of a proposed settlement in a TCPA class action lawsuit.
Other Legal Issues:
GoDaddy vs. VeriSign:
In 2002, GoDaddy sued VeriSign for domain slamming and again in 2003 over its Site Finder service.
Web.com Lawsuit:
In 2006, GoDaddy was sued by Web.com for patent infringement.
Pension Fund Lawsuit:
A pension fund filed a lawsuit against the GoDaddy board, targeting the buyout of tax benefits held by early investors.
Rigsby v. GoDaddy:
A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case involved GoDaddy's registration of a domain name and the creation and dissemination of content by a third party, with the court ruling that GoDaddy was shielded from publisher liability under Section 230. $GDDY
Rawlens
7 years ago
Former Executives Of Godaddy Looking Forward To Developing Stablecoin
Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg former GoDaddy vice presidents, were quite successful in their undertakings and are determined to emulate the same with startups. These two gurus were the founders of internet app Locu, which according to sources was in 2014 sold out to the company at about $70 million. The duo is teaming up on Celo, a digital currency payments scheme, and if all moves according to plan there is quite much to look forward to. Sep Kamvar, an MIT professor who is widely known in technology circles for co-inventing the βElgentrustβ algorithm recently made it known that he would be joining the duo. Having worked for peer-to-peer systems, the official pulls along with the much needed experience and expertise. Read more: https://marketexclusive.com/former-executives-of-godaddy-looking-forward-to-developing-stablecoin/2018/06/
JohnCM
7 years ago
https://www.kickstartcommerce.com/premium-domain-name-values-cost.html
https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-are-premium-domain-names-2878
https://www.quora.com/Who-decides-on-the-price-of-a-domain
So what we have is a new and improved way for domain name retailers to make extra money, a lot of money.
Before, if a domain name was available, you would simply register for whatever the current online rate was.
Now you have collective bargaining with price fixing across the board of online registrars. If they deem an unregistered domain is unique and valuable, they will, across the board, charge you a markup to register the name.
Regular fee ( year one ) $0.99
Premium ( unregistered ) domain $3,114.00
That is a markup of 3,115 percent.