Employees from Bidding on TDNAM — GoDaddy Bans

Domain registrar changes policy on employee bidding.

GoDaddy has changed its policy on employees bidding in TDNAM domain name auctions following a firestorm erupted the prior week (and over the weekend).

Reglike’s original story, which was based on a thread from NamePros and additional information from a reader, put a hot topic in the limelight. At first it was confined to the domain name industry, but over the weekend the story appeared on Slashdot, Ycombinator, and Reddit. It hit the top spot on Fark’s business page today.

GoDaddy General Counsel Christine Jones released a statement today announcing the firm’s change in policy:

Go Daddy has reviewed the auction and found nothing improper.

Adam Dicker’s knowledge on the auction was no different from what any client coming to our TDNAM site would have had.

To ensure client confidence and to avoid any possible future questions of impropriety all GD employees are now and in the future prohibited from participating in TDNAM auctions, purchasing, sales & back orders.

For more on this story and other firms’ policies on employee bidding, see:

Expired Domain Services Let Employees Bid Against Clients

Sedo and Pool Explain Employee Policies for Bidding

For another controversy regarding expired domains, see this article at The Domains.