GoDaddy violates ICANN whois rules and now makes it official

GoDaddy has been blocking whois access at Port 43 for years…

It returns the date related information of each domain name, nameserver info and the registrant name. It has been blocking address, telephone and email information for years.

Now GoDaddy makes it official. It will violate ICANN whois rules (that are very very poorly enforced) about providing machine whois access on port 43.

It seems that anything that doesn’t bring revenue to ICANN is very VERY poorly regulated and enforced. I bet that if they were getting 1 cent from each whois search they would have been all over it by now!

Now, beginning January 25, GoDaddy will also block the registrant name from whois on port 43. This move doesn’t seem to be spam relared as GoDaddy claims.

GoDaddy will continue to publish full WHOIS details to users of CAPTCHA-protected, web-based WHOIS system. That is until May…

In May they can start blaming the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) European Union regulation for all the blocking that has been going on for years and shut down all whois access.

GoDaddy provides an opt out procedure that is plain ridiculous. You need to call or email GoDaddy. They will then ask additional information for verification purposes using insecure email messages! What happens when you call? (I have already emailed GoDaddy and asked for an opt-out. Can’t wait to see what happens.)

Why don’t they simply provide an option in each GoDaddy account? GoFigure!

And now I have to ask. Will opting out of this “new” service release all my info that has been blocked from GoDaddy for years???

I have written about Neustar blocking whois and several comments were about GoDaddy. You can read there more info on whois and the ICANN whois rules for registries and registrars.

Here is the email sent by GoDaddy today:

We’re making improvements to protect you from spam.

WHOIS masking starts January 25.
This service will block some of your contact details through automated access points.

We’re always looking for ways to protect your information online. To help slow the flood of spam that can occur when you register a domain without privacy services, WHOIS masking of certain personal data will be turned on for all domains on January 25.

This service will limit a potential spammer’s ability to access your first name, last name, email and phone number through automated means (also known as Port 43 access). We’ll continue to publish full WHOIS details to users of our CAPTCHA-protected, web-based WHOIS system, as required.

Here’s how to opt out:

If you still want your information to be available via automated sources of public WHOIS data, you can opt out anytime using one of these options:

• Call us at (480) 505-8877.
• Send your request to port43@godaddy.com. We may ask for additional information for verification purposes.

Domain Privacy still matters.

While we hope this service will help cut down on spam calls and emails, because registration information is still made available publicly, Domain Privacy is still the best way to maintain anonymity online. WHOIS masking will only restrict spammers through automated bulk access sources.

To learn more, check out this help article.