Domain Ownership Question

[Name Trader]

In my whois records, I usually leave the Organization blank, and for the the Name, I usually refer people to my Domain Sales website. I don't have my own name in either the Organization or Name fields. Both my main Registrars say they don't care what I put in those fields providing I can be contacted by phone, mail or eMail. I have valid phone number (which service send me a message... which I very rarely listen to because most of the time it's just static), and I use a valid email address which I will reply to anything important. I use a forwarding service for my address, which I never read. Well once in a Blue Moon, if it concerns a UDRP issue (for example). The reason it is structured like this is because am concerned about Privacy. I use my Registrar's Privacy feature on my main Registrar only. At other Registrars it is open as explained above.

My questions are:

1) Who owns this domain from a legal standpoint? I assume with Privacy turned on, legally this is owned by the Privacy provider? What is the case when privacy is not turned on?
2) Who should respond to any UDRP issues? The Organization or The Name?
3) Which is most important, the Organization or the Name in determining Ownership?
4) Could I just add my name to the blank Organizational field and leave everything else the same and definitely determine that I am the owner?
5) Could I have a domain, owned by a friend or family member, in my Registrar account, which would legally not be belonging to me? Explain how?
6) Should I have separate Registrar Accounts for Corporate and Individually held domains? Or can they be held in the same Registrar Account, and differentiated by their whois records only?

 

[Kate]

Stub, now that you are incorporating my advice would be to transfer the domains to the company, and list the company as domain holder. Thus you can still have some privacy, but you can also demonstrate ownership rights in case of a problem (like a domain theft).

This is assuming you just want privacy and not anonymity. In case of a UDRP, the registrar will have to release information about the account holder, that is who is paying the bills. The information will be made available to the panelists and usually make its way to the rulings (that are public).

 

[Name Trader]

I understand what you are saying, @Kate. And it is my intention to transfer the domains to my company. But what is the best way to do this? Just change the whois? Open up another account with the Registrar? What to consider when valuing the domains for the transfer? Free? Market Value? (if it can be determined). Something in between (and why)?

I would still like some answers to my questions. Some of the answers, while seem obvious, may be open to interpretation. So I would appreciate some clarity before proceeding.