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Web Tech Tip: Check to Make Sure You Own Your Domain Name!

Web Tech Tip: Check to Make Sure You Own Your Domain Name!

KeyboardI received one of the periodic email messages that domain name owners receive, and as I was managing the tasks required by the message I realized that many of my readers may not be familiar with this very important topic. Whaaaaaat????? Well, that was a hyperbolic way of saying that you should check the ownership of your domain name every now and then.

Over the years I have several clients ( or potential clients) who were highly distressed to discover they did not own their own Web site domain name. In every instance, the client had somebody else register the domain name, and the person doing the registering put the domain in his or her own name rather than the client’s name! So, then, who owns the domain? Not the client!

Sometimes we read about domain pirates that steal or hijack a domain name, but in all the years I was in the Web biz I never ran into that situation.

Let’s look at an example, but I will change the names to protect the innocent and naive. Pretend “you” (that’s the “Royal You”) have a business called “Johnny’s Better Baked Goods” and your store is in Schenectady. Why Schenectady? Well, why not? You ask your Web professional to register your domain name, JohnnysBetterBaked.com.

Unfortunately, you so-called “pro” does not use your name or contact information for the registration, and used his instead. You don’t check this, you merely assume the domain, JohnnysBetterBaked.com, is in your name. You have absolutely no control over the domain name. You cannot make any changes to it. You cannot change Web hosts. You cannot do anything because the domain is not yours.

In two instances, my potential clients had their Web people disappear. Whether the Web person dropped dead, left town, or vaporized into the interstellar ether was never discovered. They were simply gone. The client wanted to update the site, but that could not be done it was impossible without legal control of the domain name. In one instance my client was able to take certain complicated steps to gain control over the domain. It took weeks. The other client was never able to control the domain and had to build a new site with a new domain.

“But, my business is Johnny’s Better Baked Goods! Of course that’s my domain,” you say.

Ah, no. It is not your domain. It is not is in your name. You are sunk. Get over it and get a lawyer.

If you did not register your domain yourself, or if you have not checked the registration within the last year you should immediately look at the Whois database to confirm domain ownership. Examining the Whois database is easy. There are any number of Web sites where you can look up the Whois information.

My favorite Web site is at Whois.com, but you can go directly to their lookup page at https://www.whois.com/whois/. Type in your domain name as requested. The results will be displayed on the screen in a moment.

You will see a lot of information, but you will want to make sure that you are the Registrant, at the very least. You should also be the Administrative Contact, too. The Technical Contact should be you, but it could be your Web host. That is usually OK, if you trust your Web Host.

There is a possibility that you are using a “domain masking” service to keep the information out of prying eyes. If that’s the case, you will almost certainly remember that.

If you registered your domain yourself, you can log into your registrar account and the check the information there.

That’s it! This is important stuff, so make sure everything is OK by checking your domain.