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As related at Fast Company
Sartorially-championed white nationalist Richard Spencer just got punched in the face–this time, in the figurative sense.
The web provider GoDaddy has taken down the alt-right figurehead’s web domain, the appropriately named altright.com.
“It is our determination that altright.com crossed the line and encouraged and promoted violence in a direct and threatening manner,” a GoDaddy spokesperson told BuzzFeed.
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GoDaddy to Alt-Right Leader Richard Spencer: Find an Alt Web Host
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Either I'm dead or my watch has stopped.
-- Groucho Marx's last words
(Score: 5, Insightful) by KiloByte on Friday May 04 2018, @12:25PM (39 children)
Isn't there a precedent with gay wedding cake that says you can't refuse service to customers in just this kind of difference of ideology?
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Friday May 04 2018, @12:40PM
As much as I'd love me some ASCII picard facepalm spam, I would but my face palm is stuck and typing difficult.
(Score: 5, Informative) by zocalo on Friday May 04 2018, @12:43PM (17 children)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 5, Informative) by meustrus on Friday May 04 2018, @02:17PM (12 children)
Ideology is not a constitutionally-protected category. Sure, the government can't keep you from espousing it, but GoDaddy is not the government and is perfectly within their rights to discriminate based on ideology.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 3, Informative) by zocalo on Friday May 04 2018, @02:42PM (4 children)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 1, Troll) by wisnoskij on Friday May 04 2018, @04:09PM (3 children)
But that is complete BS.
First off, godaddy is big. I am sure they host many terrorist organization websites.
But most importantly, I have never even heard this guy speak a single sentence, and even I know that he is known for his anti-violence rhetoric.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 04 2018, @04:43PM (2 children)
I have zero citations to offer, but I am equally sure.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @06:32PM (1 child)
Wow! Classic Runaway! Cocksure of something he knows nothing about! If only we could bottle this bliss!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 05 2018, @07:13AM
Dude can you like register a login so we have a name we can jeer at?
Kkthnxbai
(Score: 0, Troll) by VLM on Friday May 04 2018, @03:22PM (3 children)
Leftists want to look bad to the independent voters in the 2020 elections. Win every tiny meaningless battle, lose every war...
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @03:37PM (2 children)
Hmm ... so you think anyone who is against the incitement of violence must be a leftist. That's your right ...
... but I'm pretty sure this is a business decision for GoDaddy, and not a political one. You see, if there is any form of boycott and GoDaddy looses a few thousand customers (or more) they lose quite a bit of money. Those domain renewals cost GoDaddy pennies and their gross profit is extremely high. Plus, their domain customers are sitting ducks for GoDaddy's shitty "Hey, you need this! And this! And don't you want this?!?" marketing-during-checkout blitz.
Also, if there is enough of a backlash GoDaddy can lose the ability to buy ads during the Super Bowl or other large media events.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by unauthorized on Friday May 04 2018, @05:04PM (1 child)
Ah, so it's a bussiness decision to avoid political boycotts? What if that some pro-gay site was "inciting faggotry" and decided to censor them? I'm sure you'll be all up in arms about it. But if it's someone you dislike it, then it's okay to do it? If so, then you sir, are an opportunistic scoundrel with no principles of their own.
I for one will not shed any tears for Richard Spenser, but GoDaddy has yet again proven themselves as an organization that will not protect their consumers. Were social norms to suddenly turn against any group of people you feel entitled to protection, then GD will be the first to stab them right in the back, just as they are willing to do so to Spenser. The tools of oppression you choose to legitimize today will invariably be used to oppress you tomorrow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @05:18PM
I'm not getting "all up in arms" about this or any actions a company like GoDaddy takes. The free market can, should and will sort these things out.
As far as "inciting faggorty" is concerned, that is the prime directive of the gay agenda.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 04 2018, @04:41PM (1 child)
Ideology isn't protected, but political affiliation is. Once again - Spencer is a douche, but his nazi ass has political grounding.
(Score: 4, Informative) by meustrus on Friday May 04 2018, @05:02PM
When it comes to private businesses, the law that generally applies is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [ourdocuments.gov], which does not protect political affiliation. Specifically, it requires that government and private businesses not discriminate based on "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (at its most restrictive; religion and sex are excluded from some protections).
The closest that this law comes to protecting political affiliation is in TITLE VIII, which outlines the collection of voter registration data and stipulates that:
IANAL, and this is not a very detailed read, so I could be wrong. Individual states also have stronger protections sometimes, but as far as I know I haven't lived in one that protects political affiliation. If you know of part of the law that protects political affiliation, please show us all what part that is.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @10:26PM
If they went after the other hate groups like BLM and AntiFa then I *might* cut them some slack. They only go after random ones that it is currently popular to not like. They may be free to not carry him. He is *also* free to bitch a storm up about it. Not only is he free to do so, he will. People like this thrive on the idea they are persecuted. Strip away the racial hatred you end up with a fairly run of the mill socialist group. Asking for workers rights and seizing of companies to be run by the gov.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @05:38PM (2 children)
As any rational person knows, *incitement to violence* is a bullshit concept. It implies that people can be compelled to act by mere words. If we have no free will, then we are just bald apes.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 04 2018, @06:00PM (1 child)
You can sometimes incite people to do things.
I'm trying to incite you to reply and disagree with me. Maybe that is the word provoke instead of incite?
+1 Inciteful
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @10:02PM
:-) Your incitement and even provocation are irrelevant. I have to choose to respond. All my reactions are either by choice or conditioning. People who claim to be incited to violence are actually conditioned (or have a personal predilection) to violence. Everything you do is by personal choice or conditioning. Don't try to pass blame to the other guy for the choices you make.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 05 2018, @12:25PM
Forget the cake (insert usual Portal reference here...), it's a bit of a 'Red Herring'. The real problem for GoDaddy if the suited sharks get involved is that they will have to prove in a Court of Law that they actively and impartially enforce this AUP condition globally, otherwise this will look like victimisation and an attempt at bypassing the First Amendment rights of this character.
So, anyone up for a game of 'hunt the extremists breaking this 'incitement to violence' AUP breach' on GoDaddy hosted sites/domains/whatever?
All 52 million (or so) of them?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @01:46PM (1 child)
It's not about that, at least as GoDaddy puts it:
According to GoDaddy though, Altright.com has crossed the line into directly promoting violence, and that is not only against GoDaddy's terms of service [godaddy.com] where they specifically state:
but might possibly even be against the law [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @01:56PM
Strange, violence against animals is what I associate with godaddy.
What is it, with dns registries jumping up on the censorship bandwagon? At least there is still competition in that industry.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by realDonaldTrump on Friday May 04 2018, @02:20PM
Masterpiece Cakeshop, so important. SC deciding now. We're praying they do the right thing!!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 04 2018, @04:39PM (1 child)
That is one of the thoughts that ran through my mind. But, it seems to miss the mark, somehow. In any decent sized city, you can find your gay wedding cake SOMEWHERE. I mean, there aren't only six qualified wedding cake shops in the entire state, are there? Well - - - Maybe Montana, I'll give you that one.
Worldwide, how many host sites are there? There are a lot fewer major hosting sites, than there are wedding caterers in the US, or probably any state in the US.
I'm not real sure where I stand, in regard to Spencer. On the one hand, I wish he'd dry up, and blow away. On the other hand, if you didn't stand up for the Jews, the Gypsies, the gays, the insane - who is going to stand up for you when Gubberming (or whoever) comes for you?
This is one of the reasons for Net Neutrality, after all. If your ISP doesn't like what you read, or what you have to say, your ISP can shut you down without net neutrality. It makes sense (to me) to extend that neutrality to the limited number of hosting sites.
Or, to put it more succinctly, dumb tubes are just a freaking utility. A hosting site is just a concentration point for the tubes. The host is just dumb tubing.
And, I think that everyone who has been on the net more than a couple years will admit that GoDaddy has been especially dumb tubing on many occassions. It's almost like they take refuge in being dumb, when it suits them.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday May 05 2018, @03:25AM
Far as I've paid attention, I've never heard Spencer do any "direct incitement to violence". Do stupid salutes, yeah. Act like a third-rate media whore, you bet. But incite violence? Seriously?? Betting this is more a case of GoDaddy management getting tired of constant harassment from the punch-a-Nazi crowd and getting rid of whichever target the point-and-shriek brigade were after this time.
Never cheer the silencing of your opponent. You could be next.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday May 04 2018, @05:07PM (2 children)
I don't think that's in the same jurisdiction. If I read correctly, GoDaddy requires you to file actions against it in Arizona. That's a different appellate court area.
OTOH, if he could win anywhere it should be in an Arizona court.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by realDonaldTrump on Friday May 04 2018, @05:39PM (1 child)
Our Supreme Court took the case. But, no decision yet!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 05 2018, @08:07AM
I seriously can't tell if you are agreeing with Trump or trolling him
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday May 04 2018, @05:43PM (1 child)
Please read what GoDaddy said:
It is our determination that altright.com crossed the line and encouraged and promoted violence in a direct and threatening manner
This has nothing to do with ideology.
Furthermore, you are wrong. Gay people don't have an "ideology" (well, they might), nor a "preference", nor a "lifestyle", but rather an "orientation". You can choose your ideology, or change it. You can choose the clothes you wear, or not to wear any at all. You can chose to wear or not wear a MAGA hat. You can choose to wear or not wear a cross. You can choose to be violent, or not. These kinds of choices are what you can discriminate over.
Example of difference with re: orientation. A gay man might father a child. That is "behavior". Which billboards and magazine racks cause their head to turn is "orientation". Or a straight man might engage in something called "gay 4 pay", that is again, behavior not orientation.
You can be refused for a thing you can change:
* your MAGA hat
* your Christian T-shirt
* screaming and disrupting the business
You cannot be refused for the thing you cannot change:
* skin color
* gender (it is widely believed this can be changed and I won't argue the point)
* ethnic background
* having been born in New Jersey, etc
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @08:30PM
He is the obvious evidence that yes, you can change your skin color. He used to be black.
"If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 04 2018, @06:02PM (4 children)
One more thought about gay cakes.
Jesus was a carpenter. I wonder if he refused his professional services to anyone he disagreed with or who had any sin in their lives.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @08:43PM (2 children)
Given that his friends included a prostitute and a tax collector, and that the only instances we see of him being angry with people is when they are doing stuff in the name of the church, I would say no, he didn't refuse services.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday May 04 2018, @09:47PM
That's kind of what I thought too. I would also point out his reaction to the religious people bringing him a woman caught in the very act of adultry, to be stoned to death, to see what his reaction was. Also his encounter with the woman at the well in John 4. And there is more than one tax collector, at the very least Matthew and Zacchaeus.
Some of the closest people to Jesus were fisherman. I wonder if they refused to do business with people who disagreed with them or that they considered 'sinners'. (but aren't we all?) Peter seemed ready to go back to his fishing business after his denial prior to the crucifixion.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Funny) by deimtee on Saturday May 05 2018, @02:20AM
Well if he can tolerate a tax collector he can probably tolerate anybody.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 05 2018, @07:21AM
Well, it's hard to say. There were no muslims then so can you really say this?
Perhaps Jesus was gay? How wood we know?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 04 2018, @06:57PM (3 children)
Between a lesbian couple and a bunch of neo-Nazis, which one is advocating for harm and/or death to others? Go on. I'll wait. Take your time answering, smart guy...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by KiloByte on Friday May 04 2018, @09:02PM (2 children)
What lesbian couple? My comment was about gay cakes, I have nothing against lesbians! :p
(Apologies.)
Yes, the top line is a nitpick that's derailing this (sub)thread, but so is your post. My argument was that one party demands to make illegal anything that doesn't follow their particular ideology, then they scream bloody murder when the exact same reasoning is used against them.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday May 04 2018, @09:52PM (1 child)
I think I pointed out that it's not the same thing.
The difference is what you DO and what you ARE.
There is another difference: GoDaddy refuses business of someone who is hateful, the cake bakers refuse business because they themselves are hateful.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @11:41PM
Pointing guns at other people is hateful. It doesn't matter that the gay cake-eaters didn't point the guns themselves. Murder-for-hire is still murder.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2018, @07:53PM
Well done, sir. I did not expect that the vast majority of the discussion on an article about the push for internet censorship from the capitalist elites would be about gay wedding cakes.