Weycrest© – Comparing The Best Cheap Web Hosting Plans in the UK

Domain privacy, sometimes known as “private domains” is a service offered by a large number of domain name registrars. A registrant buys privacy from the domain registry, who in turn replaces the user’s info in the WHOIS with the details of a forwarding service. Quite often a disguised email address is used to forward email to the domain owners real address. An example of such a service is “Domains by Proxy, Inc.” or eNom’s “Whois Privacy Protection Service”.

Sometimes however, you don’t always get true anonymity Personal information is typically collected by these registrars to provide the service and some, registrars can take little persuasion to release the registrants so-called ‘private’ information to the world.

Others, however, treat privacy more seriously. The domain names are hosted offshore, beyond normal juridictions even going to the extremes of using e-gold or money orders in transactions so that the registrar has no knowledge of the personal information about the domain name owner. Thus avoiding the normal transmission of information that would be supplied with a credit card transaction.

Currently the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) broadly requires that the mailing address, phone number and e-mail address of those owning/managing a domain name to be made publicly available through the “WHOIS” directories. However the problem that policy enables spammers, direct marketers, identity thieves, or other attackers to loot the directory for personal information about these people. Indeed in the UK there was something of furore when Nominet the UK registry decided to make the details of women registrants available (along with everyones elses).

Also the public WHOIS service enables easy access to these personal details by anyone (as someone upset or concerned with the use of the domain, or just researching these people and names), regardless of whether such access is justified. ICANN has been exploring changing the WHOIS to enable greater registrant privacy, but there is a lack of consensus among major stakeholders as to what type of change should be made.

With “private registration”, the private registration service is the legal owner of the domain. This has occasionally resulted in legal problems.

In a trademark infringement case, a 2009 United States District Court ruling in U.S.A. held that, for domains with “private registration”, the privacy service is legally the “owner” of the domain. The privacy service acts as the “cyber-landlord of the Internet real estate”, and the domain is “licensed” to the customer of the privacy service.

Ownership of domains held by a privacy service was also an issue in the RegisterFly case, in which a registrar effectively ceased operations and then went bankrupt. Customers encountered serious difficulties in regaining control of the domains involved.

Also if a registrar goes out of business, it can be harder for registrants to re-establish their identity with the registry, in the case of domain privacy.

Domain privacy is not to be confused with the WHOIS opt out on UK domains (co.uk, org.uk, me.uk). With Nominet administered domains, private (non trading) individuals can opt out their address details. This facility is not allowd to Limited Company’s orcorporations. The registrants name, however remains publicly available.