Why GoDaddy Spent Lobbying Money on Pharmacy Issues

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

In February I wrote about 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:

According to the company’s self-reported lobbying reports, its lobbying activity included computers & information technology, copyright & trademark, telecommunications, law enforcement, pharmacy, and consumer product safety. Your guess is as good as mine about the pharmacy issue, but it may have involved domain names that include drugs or online pharmacies.

We now have confirmation about where its pharmacy related money went. The company 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,” said GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons in a press release.

My guess is that’s only half the story. I suspect the company 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.