[thelist] Question re: domain name ownership ... please bare list emails.

Judah McAuley judah at wiredotter.com
Thu Oct 7 22:09:10 CDT 2004


Well, the answer to this question is both yes and no in a somewhat murky 
fashion. As far as control of the domain goes, yes, he is the "owner" of 
the domain. He can transfer it elsewhere, etc. However, there is a more 
legal notion of "owner" that registrars disagree on. From what I 
understand (and this may have changed), Network Solutions regards itself 
as the legal owner of any domain name you register through them. You 
essentially rent the domain. You are purchasing a service, not a thing. 
That is why I've done my registrations through gandi.net  They are very 
explicit in stating that you, the person registering the domain, are the 
owner. You are buying a thing and they are just helping.

Does this notion of "ownership" matter when you have practical control 
over the domain and can transfer it? I don't really know, but I've 
worked with NetSol long enough to know I don't trust them as far as I 
can throw them. These sort of things should be ironed out by ICANN, but 
ICANN is proving to be a tool for lots of interests that don't exactly 
represent the common user. And NetSol hasn't exactly shown itself to be 
willing to play by ICANN's rules anyway. So your best bet is to 
carefully read the agreement with the registrar very carefully. If the 
domain name is important to you, have a lawyer look over it. Things are 
hardly settled in this area and rules and law are very much subject to 
change, so your best defence at this point is to go with a friendly 
registrar and know a good lawyer :)

Judah

list01 wrote:
<snipped>
> Am I correct in believing that he is, in fact, the owner of his domain
> name?  And, if so, he could, in fact, take his domain name and
> transfer it to another registrar service and pay whatever is
> acceptable to him while retaining ownership?  Or am I all wet here?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc.
> 




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