Who owns the domain? Registrar or me?

[SkyHiRider]

Let's say I register a domain using a registrar and pay them each year for the domain. That in fact means that I am the ONLY owner of the domain, even thou I am paying the registrar and the registrar actually registered it, right?

I ran into and issue when I switched a single domain from registrar Eve to registrar Bob - Bob needed that I confirm that I am the actual owner of the domain, and so I did. But Eve complained that it should have not been possible for me to switch the registrar to Bob, as I am not the owner of the domain, as I am not the actual owner but Eve is (which I think is untrue).

Who's right and who's wrong?
And how can I find out the actual owner, not the registrar (tried whois but that only gives info on the registrar)

[WickDaddy]

Let's say I register a domain using a registrar and pay them each year for the domain. That in fact means that I am the ONLY owner of the domain, even thou I am paying the registrar and the registrar actually registered it, right?

I ran into and issue when I switched a single domain from registrar Eve to registrar Bob - Bob needed that I confirm that I am the actual owner of the domain, and so I did. But Eve complained that it should have not been possible for me to switch the registrar to Bob, as I am not the owner of the domain, as I am not the actual owner but Eve is (which I think is untrue).

Who's right and who's wrong?
And how can I find out the actual owner, not the registrar (tried whois but that only gives info on the registrar)

I'm not sure the legal aspects of this because I don't know the company, but that may include a problem.

Generally a domain name refers to a .com which would be a top level domain. You also have different levels of domains, but that's not really important here. Generally you own the URL once you paid for it, but again legal can play into this.

Uniform Resource Locator - probably what you are referring to in this case.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - This is what covers up the IP address that points to the server where the files are stored (.html .css .php). In general this makes it easier for the person to find the files rather than typing in 127.0.0.1 (example). This is a basic version only (not intended to be a complete version).

[daark.child]

I've come across this issue before when I used to build and maintain websites. Technically you own the domain name once you have registered and paid for it. However, some unscrupulous "registrars", register domain names in their own names which makes it difficult to transfer domains to other registrars. You just need to be careful which registrars you are using.

[SkyHiRider]

I've come across this issue before when I used to build and maintain websites. Technically you own the domain name once you have registered and paid for it. However, some unscrupulous "registrars", register domain names in their own names which makes it difficult to transfer domains to other registrars. You just need to be careful which registrars you are using.

This is EXACTLY what I want to avoid - is there a way to find out if the domain is registered to me or my registrar?

I need to know the ACTUAL owner of the domain.

I can get the info i need for an .eu domain at EURid BUT I also need to get this info for other top level domains.

[daark.child]

For some domains, check at whois.net.

[SkyHiRider]

For some domains, check at whois.net.

Tried that, but no meaningful data was returned. Think there's nothing to be found, tried most of the web tools.

Thanks for the help, really appreciate it!

[elija]

You may or may not get information via whois depending on whether the registrant has asked for privicy or not. I don't know if this affects all tlds.

[cousinlucky]

If you just register a domain you can not transfer it right away. As I have had domain problems in the past I caution everyone to stay away from any domain registration company that is owned and/or run by Enom. The best registar I have dealt with is Dynadot.