warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed

In my Private Upload Settings page, I'm getting the following messages:

warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Temporary failure in name resolution in /home/votesizi/public_html/sites/all/modules/private_upload/private_upload.module on line 784.
warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to votesizing.org:80 (php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Temporary failure in name resolution) in /home/votesizi/public_html/sites/all/modules/private_upload/private_upload.module on line 784.
Unable to test file access: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: Temporary failure in name resolution

... and then below, on the same page:

Public File Folder: 'sites/default/files'
Private File Folder: 'sites/default/files/private'
sites/default/files/private exists and is writable. Great.
You have an .htaccess file in private folder. Great.
Very bad! Your private files are not private!
File download method is set to public. Great.
There are no old-style private files hanging around. Great.
There are 9 files in the private folder, and the DB thinks there are 144 private files.
There are no public files attached to private nodes. Great.
Uploaded files in db: 164 files attached to 48 nodes.

... I am fairly sure that my folder is still private (have been using this module for years without the above error, after putting my drupal site on a godaddy server) because I can *not* browse to http://votesizing.org/sites/default/files/private/privacy_test.txt.