In a recent study of 40 SMEs in the UK, more than one third were
surprised to learn that they were not the registered owner of the
domain names used by their company. The study was carried out by
Neutralize, an independent internet marketing agency, for Business
Link and UK Online for Business.
Lucy Cokes a senior consultant at Neutralize said she was "quite surprised…this definitely needs looking at on a larger scale to check how big the problem could be or what other unforeseen issues like this might exist"
When you register a domain name there are various sets of details that must be completed to identify who has responsibility for the management of that domain. These are usually:
- Legal registrant the owner of the domain.
- Billing contact the party who pays the registrar.
- Technical contact usually the company hosting the web site or the web developer.
Of these, only the technical contact and legal registrant can actually affect changes to the details registered for your domain name. They are also the only people who can affect changes to the technical attributes of your domain name. For example, where your domain name points, and the e-mail attributes you may have associated with the name.
Problems arise if your company is not listed as either of these and the individual or company that is moves, goes out of business or experiences other problems.
DomainAudit, a company managing large numbers of domain names for blue chip clients says: "It is not only small to medium sized companies who find themselves with problems concerning the ownership of their on-line assets. Large multinationals face the same problem. However, if SME's can recognise and tackle the problem now, it will make for a less expensive and smoother future for their growth and stability in the on-line arena".
According to DomainAudit, "companies spend millions of pounds every year recovering intellectual property assets which have been mismanaged on-line. This research is a timely reminder to companies to look into this area and take back what is legally theirs to own".
