Spent Lobbying Money on Pharmacy Issues — Why GoDaddy

GoDaddy’s pharmacy lobbying is related to online pharmacy bill.

In February I wrote regarding GoDaddy and its 2007 $580,000 lobby bill on capitol hill. One thing struck me as odd: one of the issues GoDaddy spent money on was pharmacy. Here’s what I wrote:

As stated by the firm’s self-noted lobbying notes, its lobbying activity included computers & information technology, copyright & trademark, telecommunications, law enforcement, pharmacy, and consumer product safety. Your guess is as good as mine regarding the pharmacy issue, but it may have involved domain names that include drugs or online pharmacies.

We now have confirmation regarding where its pharmacy related money went. The firm issued a press release today touting its role and support of “The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008”, a bill that just passed the senate. It makes it easier for domain registrars to shut down illegitimate online pharmacies.

“This legislation will give us the ability to be proactive when we are made aware of Internet pharmacy sites that do not comply with registration requirements,” stated GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons in a press release.

My guess is that’s only half the story. I suspect the firm was lobbying to make sure there weren’t provisions in the bill that forced domain registrars to take specific actions without a valid complaint. Registars want to be allowed to respond to requests without facing liability, but also don’t want the burden to be placed on them to police registrations — and for good reason.