[Infowarrior] - GoDaddy to stop China registrations

[Richard Forno]

World's top domain name service to stop offering Web addresses in China
By Tony Romm	 - 03/24/10 01:45 PM ET
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/88843-worlds-top-domain-name-service-to-stop-offering-web-addresses-in-china

U.S.-based GoDaddy.com, the world's largest domain name service,  
announced Wednesday it will no longer register new Web sites in China.

The move arrives in response to China's new website ownership rules,  
which require holders of .cn domains to provide their personal  
information -- including photographs of themselves -- to the Chinese  
government, according to the company.


GoDaddy.com plans to announce the new policy late Wednesday, at a  
hearing on Chinese Internet freedoms before the Congressional- 
Executive Commission on China.
In its testimony, it is expected to describe China's new rules as  
threats to the "security of individuals" who use GoDaddy.com's domain  
name services.

GoDaddy's decision to cease servicing Chinese Web domains arrives on  
the heels of another blow to China's Internet economy: the official  
departure of Google's popular search business from the state.

Google announced Wednesday it would begin phasing out its search  
services, after an attempt to disregard Chinese censors and redirect  
users to its unfiltered Hong Kong portal invoke the ire of Beijing's  
top officials.

Google's move -- which the company first threatened in response to a  
January 12 cyberattack company executives blame on China -- has  
refocused lawmakers' attention on China's strict Web content  
restrictions. Many on Capitol Hill are now calling for hearings and  
bills that would sanction companies that operate in states with limits  
on Internet expression.

One lawmaker who supports such a bill -- Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) --  
praised GoDaddy's decision to cease its China domain services on  
Wednesday.

In a statement released before Smith joined the CECC for its China  
hearing, the congressman said the company, as well as Google, "deserve  
the U.S. government's support"

"We want to see American IT companies doing the right thing—but we  
don’t want to see them forced to leave China for doing so," he said.  
"Now we see that, however well-intentioned, American IT companies are  
not powerful enough  to stand up to repressive governments."