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Legal issues can arise over domain name registration. This technical article will explain the legal implications of registering your domain name with a Registrar, a Reseller or a third party. It will also cover your legal position with .ie domain name registration.
There are 3 ways to register a domain name:
- Directly YOURSELF through an accredited Registrar
- Indirectly through a licensed Reseller
- Indirectly through a third party that is neither a Registrar nor Reseller
Webmentor.ie recommends the first method, and the reason that we do is because your domain name is your business name on the internet, and only YOU should legally 'own' and control it. The only guarantee you have of 100% 'ownership' and control of your domain name is if you register your domain name YOURSELF through an accredited domain name Registrar.
Please note - the words 'own' and 'ownership' are misleading. You do not own your domain name. Your payment to the Registrar gives you the exclusive right of use for as long as you are paid up. This article will use the terms 'own' and 'ownership' because these are the terms most commonly used on the internet. The correct term for the 'owner' of a domain name is 'the registrant'.
If you do not understand the terms TLD or Registrar, you may have difficulty in understanding this article. Here are 2 quick links that will fill you in -
The Five Powers that come into being when a Domain Name is Registered
No matter how a domain name is registered, 5 powers will come into being. They are:
-
The Account Holder
-
The Registrant ('Owner')
-
The Admin Contact ('Decision Maker')
-
The Billing Contact ('Pays the Registrars fees')
-
The Technical Contact ('Authorised to make Nameserver Changes')
The Account Holder is the only power that is NOT a legally recognised entity of the registered domain name, yet the Account Holder is the most powerful of the 5 powers.
How the Powers come to Exist
When a domain name is registered, a contract is enacted online by the Registrar to the person/company that physically and actually performs the Domain Name Registration. This person/company will either create, or already have, an account with the Registrar. The person/company who is named on this account is the Account Holder.
It is the duty of the Account Holder, when performing the actual domain name registration, to complete the contract by agreeing to the various terms and conditions, make the first annual payment, AND fill out the name and contact details for the 4 legally nominated entities of the domain name - ie the Registrant ('Owner'), the Admin Contact, the Billing Contact, and the Technical Contact.
The Account Holder is recognised by the Registrar as having access to the domain name account and is issued a username and password to this effect.
It is usually at the discretion of the Account Holder whether or not to grant access rights to the domain name account to any or all of the 4 legally nominated entities of the domain name. Access rights mean that a username and password is provided to access the domain name account. Access does not necessarily confer the same 'powers' as the Account Holder. For instance, a Technical Contact with access rights may only be allowed to change nameserver information (see below) and nothing else. This can also vary on a Registrar by Registrar basis.
If I register my domain name through a Reseller, then who decides which legal entities are whom?
A Reseller is licensed by her Registrar to sell domain names to the public on the Registrars behalf. The Registrar may dictate some of the terms and conditions of domain name registration, so its difficult to set out a 'one rule fits all'.
Before you register your domain name through a Reseller, make sure that you have read their Domain Name Registration Terms and Conditions. This document should set out the details of who is Account Holder, and details of any other legally nominated entities. Not all Resellers make this information available in an accessible or complete way. Our advice - don't register unless you have read and understood the Terms and Conditions.
I have seen this type of result more than once:
- Reseller is the Account Holder and has the username and password to access the domain name account
- YOU are nominated as the Registrant ('owner')
- Reseller may give you the choice, otherwise will nominate herself as Admin Contact ('Decision Making')
- Reseller nominated as Billing Contact
- Reseller nominated as Technical Contact
If you'd like to see an excellent example of a clear and concise Domain Name Registration Terms and Conditions, then read the one at activeonline.ie. Details of Account Holder status and legal entity nomination are clearly set out and you are left in no doubt as to 'who's what' with this one. Full marks.
If I register my domain name through a third party (eg local web company or individual), then who decides which legal entities are whom?
It's absolutely impossible to say. Assuming that the third party is neither a Reseller nor a Registrar, and there is no clear Domain Name Registration agreement in place, then anything could happen. It's worth asking for the situation to be clarified on paper before you agree to them registering your domain name.
What the Powers Do - at a glance
In the table shown below, you can assume that -
- yes means this is their normal function
- * means they can do this if Access Rights have been given by the Account Holder
| Account Holder |
yes |
yes |
yes |
- |
- |
| Registrant |
* |
- |
* |
- |
- |
Admin Contact
|
* |
- |
* |
yes |
- |
Billing Contact
|
* |
- |
* |
- |
yes |
Technical Contact
|
- |
- |
*
|
- |
- |
(* - if Access Rights are granted)
This would be a typical situation - but don't be surprised if it differs slightly from one Registrar to another.
You mightn't just understand what all the domain name functions mean just yet, and I'll cover it in the next section of this article, but for right now you can assume that they are the important ones for the control of any domain name.
Power, Control and 'Ownership' in a Nutshell
Assuming that YOU are the Registrant ('legal owner') of your domain name, and that a Reseller or third party is the Account Holder, Admin Contact, Billing and Technical Contact, then it only takes one glance at the table above to work out that
YOU MAY END UP WITH LITTLE OR NO CONTROL.
For 100% 'ownership' and control, you should nominate YOURSELF as Registrant, Admin Contact and Billing Contact.
Technical Contact is not an issue, and you can nominate yourself, or anyone
else that you trust. By doing the domain name registration yourself,
you will also be the Account Holder, getting the username and password
to your domain name account which means that there can be no disputing the fact that your domain name belongs to you.
And since the domain name account also contains other information, such
as nameserver information which is required to enact a change of
webhost, no-one can dictate terms to you either.
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