Wikipedia leaves Go Daddy following SOPA support

In most parts of the world the Internet is an open resource, with an endless amount of content, where the words “restricted” or “limited” are not usually taken to kindly. So, when domain registrar Go Daddy announced its support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), at least one of their clients took notice and decided to protest with its pocketbook: Wikipedia.

Founder Jimmy Wales noted on Twitter, "I am proud to announce that the Wikipedia domain names will move away from GoDaddy. Their position on SOPA is unacceptable to us."

More than 70,000 domains were also lost in a week, with 21,054 domains transferring just this past Friday alone, though it's not proven how many of these are SOPA-related.

Go Daddy has since changed their stance on SOPA, opposing the bill and noting they're now better aware of its implications, though whether this is genuine or not is a little difficult to say.

Interestingly, not only was Go Daddy a supporter of SOPA, they actually helped craft part of the bill and were even exempt from it. So, while other smaller sites could be targeted by the DOD for pirating, Go Daddy essentially has a get out of jail free card.

Ed. note: this article was edited December 30 to eliminate assumptions and focus on facts. Consider it an extremely rare oversight, one I've already made moves to prevent from happening again.