If you own a domain name registered through Southwest Cyberport, you have probably received an email from our domain registration partner, OpenSRS, regarding some rule changes in domain ownership.
ICANN is the global body that oversees all aspects of Internet domain names. They set the rules for how domains are registered, maintained, traded, and expired. An important part of the rulebook deals with domain ownership and ownership disputes. They recently tweaked those rules.
What Changed?
You may have noticed that the “Owner” or “Registrant” information for a domain includes both “Name” and “Organization” fields, like so:
DOMAIN: swcp.com
FIRST NAME: Mark
LAST NAME: Costlow
ORG NAME: Southwest Cyberport
The new rule is: the Organization field determines the owner of the domain
In the past, the Organization field was optional and not particularly important. With this rule change, it becomes critically important in some cases. As of May 2025:
- If the Organization field is filled out, the domain is legally owned by that organization, not the named individual.
- If the Organization field is blank, the domain is legally owned by the named individual
What Should You Do?
What does this mean for you? It’s all about control of the domain in the event of a dispute. For many domains, this matters very little. But if the domain is used in a business or non-profit organization, having the correct ownership recorded is essential.
So what should you do? Here’s a quick guide:
- If your domain is your personal property, ask us to verify your name on the domain and REMOVE the Organization field.
- If your domain belongs to your business/org, ask us to verify the business or org name in the Organization field.
You should be receiving a “WHOIS Data Confirmation” email each year which shows you the current settings of your domain. That will continue, and you can have us make any changes you need at that time.
Note that even if an Organization is specified, and thus is the legal domain owner, a person’s name must still be specified along with it and cannot be left blank. If you really don’t want a person’s name listed, you can use a “role” name like, “Domain Admin”. Also note that default domain privacy practices will keep the name private, not disclosed in WHOIS.
In case you missed it, our recent Portal newsletter talks about the history of WHOIS and WHOIS Privacy for domains. You can get it here: SWCP Portal, August 2025
As always, if you have any questions please contact us at help@swcp.com
