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Go Daddy Prohibits Employees from Bidding on Domains

By: Justin Bourne

Posted: 07/07/2008

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Adam Dicker, a Go Daddy executive, was caught bidding on domains in The Domain Name After Market, forcing the online domain registry to scuttle employee after-market domain bidding.

 

"To ensure customer 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 and back orders," Christine Jones, Go Daddy general counsel and corporate secretary, said in a prepared statement.

 

Go Daddy insists the vice president of The Domain Name After Market, did nothing "improper." Nevertheless, Dicker's actions call Go Daddy's policies and practices into question.

 

Dicker told the Domain Name Journal that he was in the process of "completing a deal to purchase an existing ICANN accredited registrar," which, Dicker said, he'd use to provide forum members with discounted rates for new domains.

 

Go Daddy says Adam Dicker had "no access to 'inside information,'... no more access than you would have had in the auction."

 

The company adds that Dicker didn't hide his identity in any way, and even though he did nothing wrong, they decided to "go above and beyond to show our commitment to the customer ... even though forbidding employees to participate in a transparent auction is a little like telling a 'brick and mortar' retail worker he or she can't shop at their own store."