How do I find out who DID own a domain name...

[WebDesignBob]

How do I go about looking up who did own a domain name, ideally without another registration and subscription fee.

ie, who owned it, when, where it was hosted, who was responsible for renewals, and so on.

Can anyone shed any investigative light?

 

[funkykitsch]

i think that would be breaking the data protection rules.

 

[fx7solutions]

The only option available is only to check who is current domain holder and where it is hosted (you can check it by analysing records of name servers). Start at nominet.org.uk and whois.ws websites.

 

[webstore]

For .co.uk domains it's http://www.nominet.org.uk/ where you enter the domain on the RHS in WHOis Lookup

For .com domains we use http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp but others are available.

or you could just enter into Google Search eg whois webstore.co.uk albeit results might not be so helpful

 

[Posilan]

Try the whois archive at:

http://who.is/domain_archive-//

Enter the domain name and it shows first seen whois and most recent whois information for most domain names.

Steve

 

[ecenica]

How do I go about looking up who did own a domain name, ideally without another registration and subscription fee.

ie, who owned it, when, where it was hosted, who was responsible for renewals, and so on.

Can anyone shed any investigative light?

I don't believe this is possible.

You could try some of the archive tools, like the one mentioned previously. However these only show a snapshot of data if someone has previously queried the domain name.

Rich.

 

[csaba]

This is only possible via serious archives; the only one I know of is domaintools whois history (do a google search for it).

You can enrol in their free trial for getting the whois history data, and cancel your membership within the first seven days to get the data.

Hope this helps,
-Csaba

 

[PDC]

Try the whois archive at:

http://who.is/domain_archive-//

Enter the domain name and it shows first seen whois and most recent whois information for most domain names.

Steve

This is what I've used in the past.

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

DomainTools can do this and has a lot of data but you do pay for it.

 

[funkykitsch]

DomainTools can do this and has a lot of data but you do pay for it.

if they give details of names,addresses then surely that is breaking the law isn't it - data protection etc.? I always thought looking at whois data was a grey area...it does seem that most people think all the whois info is public information but i'm not entirely sure about that?
Just realised we used to have some web hosting from you - don't know what domain it was though. PS i don't think it was reflection on your hosting that we moved.

 

[Jolt.co.uk]

if they give details of names,addresses then surely that is breaking the law isn't it - data protection etc.? I always thought looking at whois data was a grey area...it does seem that most people think all the whois info is public information but i'm not entirely sure about that?
Just realised we used to have some web hosting from you - don't know what domain it was though. PS i don't think it was reflection on your hosting that we moved.

WHOIS is public information.

Glad you've used us in the past. We now have a UK datacentre so you should stop by again

 

[funkykitsch]

WHOIS is public information.

Glad you've used us in the past. We now have a UK datacentre so you should stop by again

for uk sites i use - actually i won't say as that would be unfair - but i only pay £30 / year and can host unlimited domains - also the domain purchase cost is very cheap for .co.uk - i used to use 123reg but they cost over £8 / domain!

 

[CrLucch]

This is only possible via serious archives; the only one I know of is domaintools whois history (do a google search for it).

You can enrol in their free trial for getting the whois history data, and cancel your membership within the first seven days to get the data.

Hope this helps,
-Csaba

This is a really cool tip. I'm gonna use this when I need that kind of information in the future.

 

[Miranda]

You could try looking the domain up here: http://archive.org/web/web.php and see if there was a web page created that has been stored in the archive, and view that to see if you can glean any info?

 

[njoo]

Is there a way to do this if the WHOIS data is private? I don't think so, but if there is, it shouldn't be legal :|

 

[jameskerry]

I don't think you can check the history for a domain , it's even against the data protection rules ...but you can check the current status of domain , by just typing domain name , whois in google...

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Is there a way to do this if the WHOIS data is private? I don't think so, but if there is, it shouldn't be legal :|

If it is a business or trading website of any kind the address data has to be revealed. If it is hidden I am told that a phone call to Nominet will show the address while you wait.

 

[Nathanto]

If it is a business or trading website of any kind the address data has to be revealed. If it is hidden I am told that a phone call to Nominet will show the address while you wait.

If you contact Nominet regarding a commercial domain having the registration details hidden/private then they will not reveal the details immediately.

What Nominet will do is contact the domain owner and explain that they have two options: 1) remove any business content from the web site or 2) make the registration details public. If the domain owner does not reply in a timely manner then Nominet will by default action option 2. (i.e. the registration details will be made public.)

 

[WebDesignBob]

I would have thought that any details which were made public at the time the domain was live, would be a matter of public record, thereby not infringing data protection regulations.

If you contact Nominet regarding a commercial domain having the registration details hidden/private then they will not reveal the details immediately.

What Nominet will do is contact the domain owner and explain that they have two options: 1) remove any business content from the web site or 2) make the registration details public. If the domain owner does not reply in a timely manner then Nominet will by default action option 2. (i.e. the registration details will be made public.)

Very interesting.

By the looks of it, without paying, there is no free and reliable whois search for expired domains, revealing the owner/address history. It would have made for an interesting and occasionally useful tool.

 

[Nathanto]

I would have thought that any details which were made public at the time the domain was live, would be a matter of public record, thereby not infringing data protection regulations.

I'm not so sure whether it is "public record" as Nominet clearly state that they own the data and specifically restrict its re-use. As a result I think use of whois data would fail the first Data Protection principle of "being fairly and lawfully processed" - it's difficult to argue you have a right to use the data when the source of the data says you do not!

By the looks of it, without paying, there is no free and reliable whois search for expired domains, revealing the owner/address history. It would have made for an interesting and occasionally useful tool.

Concur, there is no way (paid or unpaid) to get the details of a private individual who has opted out of the whois of an expired domain.

There are companies who have (presumably illegally) scraped the Nominet Whois and will charge you for such data although even then I would question how reliable the data is.