Following a maelstrom of Internet backlash, GoDaddy has withdrawn its support of the Stop Online Privacy Act, the company announced on Friday. "As a company that is all about innovation, with our own technology and in support of our customers, Go Daddy is rooted in the idea of First Amendment Rights and believes 100 percent that the Internet is a key engine for our new economy," GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman said in a statement. 

Hundreds of website operators moved or threatened to move their domains away from GoDaddy after the company's inclusion on a list of nearly 150 backers of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) released by the United States House of Representatives judiciary committee gained widespread attention online earlier this week. The company also said that it has removed blog postings discussing areas of the bill it did suport, "in an effort to eliminate any confusion about its reversal on SOPA."

"GoDaddy has always fought to preserve the intellectual property rights of third parties, and will continue to do so in the future," general counsel Christine Jones said in the statement. SOPA is a fervently debated piece of legislation that would greatly enhance the powers of companies and the U.S. Justice Department to effectively censor websites they deem to infringe on copyright holders. “The game changer with SOPA is that it gives private entities an enforcement mechanism that previously only existed with a court order,” 

"Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation -- but we can clearly do better," Adelman said. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."