Who owns the domain?

How can you check who is the owner of the domain and when should you do that? Do you want to set up your own website that will promote your business online? Or do you wish to create another landing page or a back-end site that supports the positioning of your target website? Find out how to see where the domain is registered and who it belongs to.

Who owns the domain?

There is an organisation in each country whose task is to maintain and supervise the registry of all national domains. Domain names with national extensions (.pl), functional domain (e.g. info.pl, net.pl orcom.pl) and regional ones (e.g.: lublin.pl, waw.pl or gdynia.pl) are supervised by NASK (National Domain Name Registry), established by the Ministry of Digital Affairs.

The domain registry maintained by NASK is publicly accessible and can be used by every user to find a domain in WHOIS database. Here you can access the NASK domain browser.

The NASK registry is the one used to verify domains and check the owners. You can find there all information about a particular domain: e.g. its state, when it was created, date of the last modification, DNS server name, owner’s (subscriber’s) data and information about the person or entity that registered the domain.

What is WHOIS?

WHOIS is a common database of Internet domains. WHOIS of gTLD domains (functional top-level domains) is controlled by ICANN, a nationwide institution. The www.who.is registry allows you to easily check where a given domain is registered, what history it has and who owns it.

WHOIS includes not only national domains, but also functional top-level domains usch as .com, .pro, .net as wells as domains form other countries (.gb, .cz or .it).

Keep in mind that not every domain can be found in WHOIS or NASK. If you’re looking for European domains and subdomains, you should use the EURid registry. You can check there who owns a given .eu domain.

Can we always check who owns the domain?

No, we can’t always do that. Most of the time, you won’t be able to access information about the domain subscriber if the owner of the domain is an individual. The protection of personal data of natural persons who own domains results directly from the provisions of the applicable Polish law on personal data protection and the provisions of the GDPR.

Moreover, some companies and organizations may classify their data in the registry, in which event who.is won’t be able to provide you with information about the domain subscriber. Protecting domain privacy is possible thanks to the Domain Privacy Protection. Take a closer look at the Registry Lock protection, which will protect your .pl domain against theft and unauthorized changes.

If the domain subscriber data is classified, you can try to ask the registrar indirectly, but keep in mind that no registrar will give you such data without a valid reason.

If you’re looking for a domain with a national extension, the who.is registry might not be able to provide you with full information. Try NASK registry instead. If you want to find the owner of the domain, it’s better to check the National Domain Naim Registry first.

Who owns this domain?

– Hello? I’d like to speak with the owner of this domain!

– What do you mean by „classified information”?

As we mentioned above, checking domains can be unsuccessful, if the domain owner is an individual or the organisation that owns the domain has set its data in the registry as classified.

If you receive full information about the domain when using WHOIS, NASK or EURid, you can contact the domain owner. However, if you can’t find this information, you can always get in touch with the domain registrar directly. Every registry always includes data of the domain registering companies.

Pay attention to the DNS servers on which the domain is located, too. They can indicate the registrar of the domain or its owner if the domain has been moved to the DNS servers owned by its subscriber.

If you want to buy the domain from its owner, check the ending date of the billing period to try to contact the owner of the domain or its registrar before its ending.

If you want to register your own domain, coming up with a unique name for the domain might turn out to be a better, cheaper and faster solution. Take a look at our domain browser and registration prices. You might also be interested in premium domains that will allow you to stand out from your competition effectively.

Take a look at these articles as well:

• What is hosting
• How long does it take and how does the website migrate?
• Compendium: What should you know about the Internet domain?