{"id":171,"date":"2018-01-22T20:03:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T20:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-webliteracy\/chapter\/finding-out-who-owns-a-domain\/"},"modified":"2018-01-22T20:03:50","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T20:03:50","slug":"finding-out-who-owns-a-domain","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-webliteracy\/chapter\/finding-out-who-owns-a-domain\/","title":{"raw":"Finding Out Who Owns A Domain","rendered":"Finding Out Who Owns A Domain"},"content":{"raw":"

Many times you\u2019ll want to know who is behind a domain. This used to be relatively easy to find out in the past: when a person bought a domain, their name was put into a \u201cregistry\u201d \u2014 which is sort of like the \u201cphonebook of domains\u201d. \u00a0(Yes, I know: many of you are probably now asking what a \u201cphonebook\u201d is\u2026)\n\nBack then, to find out who owned a domain, you\u2019d just go and look it up, using a service called WHOIS.\n\nUnfortunately, things got more complicated. People who had their email addresses and names in the \u201cdomain phonebook\u201d would get spam email, or the information displayed on the record would be used to try and hack their site. And many people \u2014 for example, political dissidents \u2014 had good reason to not reveal their names. And so a lot of the \u201cregistrars\u201d (the people who you by your domain name from) started offering masking services, which hide the owner of the domain.\n\nNowadays, if you want to find out who owns a domain, whois-type services are a good first stop, even though they will usually fail for smaller sites.\n\nTo look up domain ownership, we recommend a tool called\u00a0Domain Dossier<\/a>. Go to the site and type in your root URL and check all the checkboxes:\n<\/p>

\"\"<\/div>\nWhen the identity is not masked, you\u2019ll be able to see the owner of the domain. The first place to look is \u201cRegistrant Name\u201d and \u201cRegistrant Organization\u201d:\n
\"\"<\/div>\nOccasionally, you may not get a useful name from the record, but the address might be telling.\n\nIf the name is masked in Domain Dossier, you\u2019ll get a record that looks like this:\n
\"\"<\/div>\nYou may also see the name of a masking service, such as \u201cDomains by Proxy\u201d:\n
\"\"<\/div>\nIn this case, the registrant is not from Arizona, and not named \u201cDomains by Proxy\u201d \u2014 that is just the masking service.\n\nAgain, it\u2019s important to note that masking is common enough these days that it shouldn\u2019t cause suspicion.\n\nWhile domain owners can hide their names, they cannot hide the date the domain was registered. As we\u2019ll discuss in another chapter, this is often useful information. By looking at the domain registration date you can often get a sense of whether a site has a long history behind it, or has been spun up for a specific purpose.","rendered":"

Many times you\u2019ll want to know who is behind a domain. This used to be relatively easy to find out in the past: when a person bought a domain, their name was put into a \u201cregistry\u201d \u2014 which is sort of like the \u201cphonebook of domains\u201d. \u00a0(Yes, I know: many of you are probably now asking what a \u201cphonebook\u201d is\u2026)<\/p>\n

Back then, to find out who owned a domain, you\u2019d just go and look it up, using a service called WHOIS.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, things got more complicated. People who had their email addresses and names in the \u201cdomain phonebook\u201d would get spam email, or the information displayed on the record would be used to try and hack their site. And many people \u2014 for example, political dissidents \u2014 had good reason to not reveal their names. And so a lot of the \u201cregistrars\u201d (the people who you by your domain name from) started offering masking services, which hide the owner of the domain.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, if you want to find out who owns a domain, whois-type services are a good first stop, even though they will usually fail for smaller sites.<\/p>\n

To look up domain ownership, we recommend a tool called\u00a0Domain Dossier<\/a>. Go to the site and type in your root URL and check all the checkboxes:\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

When the identity is not masked, you\u2019ll be able to see the owner of the domain. The first place to look is \u201cRegistrant Name\u201d and \u201cRegistrant Organization\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Occasionally, you may not get a useful name from the record, but the address might be telling.<\/p>\n

If the name is masked in Domain Dossier, you\u2019ll get a record that looks like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

You may also see the name of a masking service, such as \u201cDomains by Proxy\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

In this case, the registrant is not from Arizona, and not named \u201cDomains by Proxy\u201d \u2014 that is just the masking service.<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s important to note that masking is common enough these days that it shouldn\u2019t cause suspicion.<\/p>\n

While domain owners can hide their names, they cannot hide the date the domain was registered. As we\u2019ll discuss in another chapter, this is often useful information. By looking at the domain registration date you can often get a sense of whether a site has a long history behind it, or has been spun up for a specific purpose.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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