How to find who owns a domain

Question

I have used WhoIs and I see who the Register of a Domain is. I am unclear how to see who owns the Domain. Where do I see this? Thanks

Answer 1

You can use the whois utility in Linux and Windows command line. May have to install it with apt-get install whois or yum install whois

NAME
       whois - client for the whois directory service

SYNOPSIS
       whois [ { -h | --host } HOST ] [ { -p | --port } PORT ] [ -abBcdGHKlLmMrRx ] [ -g SOURCE:FIRST-LAST ] [ -i ATTR[,ATTR]... ] [ -s SOURCE[,SOURCE]... ]
       [ -T TYPE[,TYPE]... ] [ --verbose ] OBJECT

       whois -q KEYWORD

       whois -t TYPE

       whois -v TYPE

       whois --help

       whois --version

DESCRIPTION
       whois searches for an object in a RFC 3912 database.

       This version of the whois client tries to guess the right server to ask for the specified object. If  no  guess  can  be  made  it  will  connect  to
       whois.networksolutions.com for NIC handles or whois.arin.net for IPv4 addresses and network names.

OPTIONS
       -h HOST, --host HOST
               Connect to HOST.

       -H      Do not display the legal disclaimers some registries like to show you.

       -p, --port PORT
               Connect to PORT.

       --verbose
               Be verbose.

       --help  Display online help.

Answer 2

Note: There might be some laws that are relevant. For instance, Trademark law might have some impact: If you own a trademark, that might give some rights to the domain name. Or might not. If you care that much, then this is no longer a simple technical question. Instead, this would be a complex legal question that may vary based on details like what registrar you used, and what laws are in effect (which can involve details like where the registrar is, and probably where you are located, and possibly when something happens, as laws may change). So if you care that much, you may want to review contracts, laws, and seek out review by a law professional.

But, if you want a simple answer... here's a straightforward answer that may set you on the right track in many/most simple cases:

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How to find out who owns a domain?

What do you mean "own a domain"?

Are you sure there is such a thing? According to Domain Bits: Domain Law, [there is] "No Such Thing As Domain Ownership."

"The registrars’ agreements generally don’t give domain holders any property or ownership rights in the domains they register – ie, it’s not really “your domain.”

The closest thing to domain "ownership" is registration of a domain. Which is what WHOIS shows you.

(Side note: IP addresses are also not "owned" by individual customers.)

Answer 3

For this, I suggest you do a reverse WHOIS search. There are a lot of available services on the Internet, but I would advise you to choose one that has an extensive database of WHOIS records and domains. It should also cover both the IPv4 and IPv6 spaces and have massive lists of not just ccTLDs, but also gTLDs. That way you can be sure to include all the information relevant to your requirements.

If the company you��re working for has been in business for years, you’d need to do a WHOIS search that covers even historical records. If, on the other hand, the company is fairly new, you’d need a regularly updated database so you’d get even the most recent domain additions.

I’m quite partial to this reverse WHOIS search service if you’d like to try it yourself. It lets me find all the information on a huge list of domains. Since it has very well-parsed and well-structured data, I can also easily do correlations, say, if I want to see overlaps among domain contents, registrants, and more. All of the reports it generates can be downloaded in PDF format that you can easily hand over to your client.

If you want to do more, it also has an advanced search feature. Say, you want to monitor a certain domain, you can easily do so with Domain Monitoring. This will help you flag changes made to domains you’ve listed down for a closer look. You can do the same with registrants and brands should your company ask you to.

If you’re more comfortable with using data at rest, you also have the option of using the reverse WHOIS API. It uses the same data set and lets you perform all the same activities as the search tool I recommended. Subscription is free and comes with credits that you can readily use.