GoDaddy.com Ceases Registering Websites In China

GoDaddy.com Inc. plans to announce today that they will no longer allow domain names to be registered in China in response to new government rules that require applications to provide an extensive amount of personal data including photographs. GoDaddy believes that this requirement for domain name registration could put individuals at risk. GoDaddy.com is the second major company to cease doing online business in China this week, Google being the first.

“GoDaddy is the first company to publicly follow Google’s example in responding to the Chinese government’s censorship of the Internet by partially retreating from the Chinese market,” stated Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.). “Google fired a shot heard ’round the world, and now a second American company has answered the call to defend the rights of the Chinese people.” GoDaddy launched in 2000 and runs about 40 million registered domain names. [Washington Post]

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