GoDaddy wants to be spam police

zach · 08-03-2007, 08:49 PM

Hi

I was just reading through all of GoDaddy's legal mumbo-jumbo and their terms of service, and it turns out that they suspend members domains if they are considered spamming.

Godaddy's no spam policy goes beyond the legal regulations on spam. In essense they can cancel your account for requesting a reciprical link, if that person did not agree to get that link first.

They will CHARGE you for spamming or being ACCUSED of spam.

Here's the link to their spam policy:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal...id=SPAM_POLICY

I'm not sure if this is common policy among registrars, but I'm looking in to it.

Any comments or insight?

zach · 08-03-2007, 08:56 PM

oh my... I looked in to this and look what I found:

"You agree Go Daddy may immediately terminate any account which it believes, in its sole discretion, is transmitting or is otherwise connected with any spam or other unsolicited bulk email. In addition, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then You agree to pay Go Daddy liquidated damages of $1 for each piece of spam or unsolicited bulk email transmitted from or otherwise connected with Your account, otherwise You agree to pay Go Daddy 's actual damages. You acknowledge You have read and understand and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Go Daddy ’s Anti-spam Policy, available here . Such terms and conditions are applicable to the use of all Go Daddy Software and Services and are incorporated herein."

Godaddy will 'fine' you $1 per spam sent in connection to your account.

Let's hope that your competition dosen't spam you.

Zach

tater03 · 08-04-2007, 01:12 AM

Now this just is ridiculous if you ask me. Pay them a 1.00 or damages? I hope people are reading the fine print on this but sadly I bet alot of people are not.

Dave Zan · 08-04-2007, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zach

Godaddy's no spam policy goes beyond the legal regulations on spam.

Unless you're referring to the CAN-SPAM Act, which one exactly?

Generally speaking, something isn't illegal until any applicable law or legal
decision says otherwise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater03

I hope people are reading the fine print on this but sadly I bet alot of people are not.

Unfortunately many people really don't seem to care about the details but
to get results based on what they're willing to pay. That's just the way it is.

As always, don't do business with one who doesn't meet what you expect.
If you think this is bad, keep reading around and you'll soon find out it gets
more...interesting.

zach · 08-04-2007, 10:17 AM

Well it's probably legal. And yes, it goes beyond the CAN-SPAM Act. Under CAN-SPAM Act, anyone is allowed to send spam, as long as it complies with certain elements stated in the act (label for adult spam, opt-out option, etc.)

In my opinion, charging $1 per spam is extortion. And worse... the vagueness of the terms means that just about anyone can get charged with spamming. The spam just has to be "connected to your account".

If I go out and spam someones website across the internet a million times (something that should be easy to do nowadays), and then report them, they would be liable
to paying $1 million in fines to godaddy.

Furthermore, anyone could spam their account (not just me lol). A bad seo company, an affiliate promoting your product, a competitor... even GoDaddy itself.

tater03 · 08-04-2007, 05:54 PM

So if I am understanding you correctly someone else could do this but you would end up getting blamed? And be liable to pay the 1.00? That is just a crock of you know what to me.

SageMother · 08-05-2007, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater03

So if I am understanding you correctly someone else could do this but you would end up getting blamed? And be liable to pay the 1.00? That is just a crock of you know what to me.

If it is your site being spammed then you would probably be liable for damages. It would be up to you to recoup your losses from the actually spammer.

tater03 · 08-05-2007, 08:45 PM

How in the world would you ever recoup your losses from a spammer? I mean it is hard enough staying one step ahead of someone who is spamming.

Hurgoll · 08-08-2007, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater03

How in the world would you ever recoup your losses from a spammer? I mean it is hard enough staying one step ahead of someone who is spamming.

So if I hate someone and send out a million spam letters from my account but say I want to sell his account on godaddy, I don'tr even have to own and he doesn't even have to approve of my letters he still get s a million dollar fine? Because it was about his account?

wow not right.

SageMother · 08-08-2007, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater03

How in the world would you ever recoup your losses from a spammer? I mean it is hard enough staying one step ahead of someone who is spamming.

There must be several steps to go through before there is any heavy action taken against the site owner. You would have to have the chance to take care of the matter yourself, so to that end I would think getting the IP address and the ISP of the spammer would be the first step...along with the date and probably the time the e-mail was sent.

Then you contact the ISP with the information and the complaint and hope they can do something.

It would also help to record IP addresses of people who sign up for the affiliate program, just in case.