So, you bought a domain name — congratulations! After all, you do own it now, right?
Actually, no. At least, not in the sense you may think. Possibly not at all.
You see, a registrar licenses the domain to you, the “registrant”, for a limited time. So, domain registration isn’t absolute ownership. It’s close enough for most purposes, though.
So, if a “whois” search on a site like Who.is lists your current email address as the registrant for your domain, you can be sure it’s licensed properly.
…but what if it doesn’t?
Keep Calm and Double-Check
Updates to privacy laws now mean that registrant details are often hidden from such searches. Also, different “whois” searches cover different types of domain. So don’t worry if your domain doesn’t appear on the site above.… Read the rest