Do You Own Your Domain Name?
If you look up your domain name information and no one in your organization is listed among the contacts, you may have difficulty establishing your rights to retain use of the domain name in the event it expires.
When’s the last time you checked the WHOIS information for your domain name? The WHOIS database (Wikipedia entry here) is a protocol that allows one to see the contact information on a domain name. Although technically no one in the world really owns a domain name except the Network Information Centre (NIC), it’s generally accepted that the Registrant of the domain name is its legal owner. If you look up your domain name information and no one in your organization is listed among the contacts, you may have difficulty establishing your rights to retain use of the domain name in the event it expires.
A simple way to look up your domain name information is to visit the website of a domain name Registrar such as Godaddy and enter your domain name in the Domain Search feature of the site. Entering a domain name already in use results in a “(domain name) is already taken” message and a link to click for more information. Clicking that link will reveal the domain name contacts. There are four types of contacts listed: registrant, administrative contact, technical contact and billing contact.
The registrant is considered to be the legal owner of the name. In exchange for an annual fee paid to the domain name registry, the registrant is in effect issued a license to use a given domain name on the internet. A registrant may name an administrative contact to manage the domain name. It’s the responsibility of the administrative contact to keep the information on the contacts in the WHOIS current and to manage access to the domain name settings. The technical contact would typically be responsible for the name server settings for the domain. The billing contact is responsible for making sure the annual fee for the domain name’s usage is paid on time.
In practice what usually happens is that a business contacts a web development company and they obtain the domain name for the business. Since the developer typically maintains an account with a registrar, all contact information for the name(s) are initially set to the developer’s default contact information. At Imp Designs, we go back into our account and set the registrant information to match our client’s contact information. We leave the other contact information to point to us, since we usually take on the responsibility of managing the other aspects of the domain. If our client prefers to manage their own domain, we facilitate it’s transfer to new account. If you find that your domain name information doesn’t list anyone in your organization, start trying to contact those who are listed. A reputable internet company will not try to block your being listed as registrant. You should also have login information for your registrar in case you decide to move your domain or modify any of it’s parameters.
A little investigation on the status of your domain name can save you lots of headaches. It’s not unusual for this vital bit of information to get lost as most businesses initiallly buy 2-4 years of registration and then forget about it. Making sure someone in your organization is listed as the registrant contact is much easier than trying to re-establish your authority to use a domain name if it expires and no one in your company gets the renewal notice.