What is domain protection, and do I need it?

What are the four points of Domain protection?

Domain protection is four commitments, no more and no less:

1. The company is the registrant. DomaineGoat LLC is the registrant of record, and you remain the beneficiary. Getting the domain back in your own name costs nothing.
2. The transfer lock stays on. Nobody can move the domain to another registrar until you turn the lock off in your account.
3. Minimal data. The only thing DomaineGoat LLC keeps about you is your email address.
4. Human review. A member of our team reads each complaint before anything happens to the domain. Domains without the option do not get this review.

You keep full control of DNS records, nameservers and renewals from the client area, as with any other domain.

How is Domain protection different from free WHOIS privacy?

WHOIS privacy hides contact data in the public record; Domain protection changes who the registrant is. Privacy is free here on every extension where the registry allows it.

Registries do not all allow it. According to DotAlmanac's table of 225 extensions, 135 registries allow WHOIS privacy, 31 hide registrant data themselves, and 23 forbid privacy. The rule of the other 36 is unknown. We sell none of the 23 that forbid it, such as .us, .in or .es.

For a .com or a .net, free privacy already keeps your email out of the public record. The Verisign registry receives no contact data at all. Domain protection adds another layer: the registrant record itself names a company.

Why are some extensions sold only with Domain protection?

Because their registries require a full name and a postal address for the registrant. We collect neither, so we register these domains in the name of DomaineGoat LLC. The registry then receives the company's details, never yours.

The 12 extensions concerned are .de, .uk, .nl, .cc, .to, .ch, .pl, .be, .at, .cz, .nz, .fi. Their price already includes the option. A .de shows $36.99/year: $7.99 for the domain and $29 for Domain protection. Registrars that collect your name and address sell a .de for less, without the option. Several of these registries, such as DENIC for .de, also keep personal data out of their public WHOIS.

What does Domain protection not do?

It does not change the abuse policy. The same rules apply to every domain, with or without the option:

• Phishing, malware, botnets or fraud that takes money from victims: action within 24 hours of a well-documented report.
• Child sexual abuse material is handled immediately, with a report to the competent hotline or authority.
• Trademark disputes on generic extensions go through the UDRP, with a lock within 2 business days of a request from a UDRP provider.
• We release the data we hold only when Panamanian law requires it (a Panamanian court or prosecutor's order), or in a UDRP case.

It does not make a use of the domain legal, and it does not replace a trademark search before you choose a name. Reports go to [email protected]; the abuse page gives the full process.

Do I need Domain protection?

You need it only for the 12 extensions above, because there is no other way to buy them here. Everywhere else, it is a choice.

Take the option if you want three things. The registrant record names a company, the transfer lock is on from the start, and a person reads each complaint first. Skip it if free WHOIS privacy is enough for you, as it often is on a .com. You then save $29 a year per domain.

How do I add or remove it?

Tick the option when you order, or add it later from the client area. It is paid from your crypto balance, $29 a year per domain.

To stop the option, ask us to return the domain to your own name, at no charge. To move the domain to another registrar, switch the transfer lock off first. The transfer (EPP) code is then free, requested from the client area.