Domain protection: your domain, held in our name

What exactly are the four protections?

1. Registration in the company's name. DomaineGoat LLC is the registrant of record. The registry, the public WHOIS/RDAP record and the registration data show the company, never you. You stay the beneficial owner and can take the domain back in your name, for free.
2. Transfer lock on by default. The domain carries the registrar lock from the start. A transfer away, a nameserver change or a DNS change has to be confirmed from your account.
3. Minimal data. DomaineGoat LLC holds only your email. It goes out only when Panamanian law requires it (a Panamanian court or prosecutor's order), or in a UDRP case.
4. A person reads every complaint before any action on the domain. This review exists only with Domain protection: without it, complaints follow the abuse policy. No automatic suspension follows a form or an email, and when the law allows, we tell you about a complaint before acting. The abuse deadlines do not change: phishing, malware, botnets and fraud are acted on within 24 hours of a documented report, child sexual abuse material at once.

Why add it when you transfer a domain?

A transfer is the moment a domain is most exposed. The auth code travels by email, the lock is switched off, and for a few days the name sits between two registrars. Domain protection closes that window on arrival: the lock goes back on at once, and any later move needs a confirmation from your account.

It is also the only way to hold some extensions here. The registries of .de, .uk, .nl, .ch, .cc, .to and a few others ask for a name and a postal address, so we sell them only with Domain protection: the registry receives the company's details, and the price shown on the price list already includes the option. For those names, the transfer and the change of registrant are handled in the same order. A .uk is the exception: its transfer goes through support (see the .uk guide).

On a transfer, the order includes the option for the added year. Once the transfer completes, the time already paid at the old registrar is billed at the same yearly rate, pro rata, from your balance. The cart and the review step say so before you pay.

What does Domain protection not do?

It does not change the rules every domain follows. Be clear about four limits before you buy it:

• The same abuse policy applies. Phishing, malware, botnets, child sexual abuse material and fraud that takes money from victims lead to suspension on a well-documented report, with or without the option. See the abuse policy.
• Trademark disputes still follow the UDRP. A complaint names the registrant of record, DomaineGoat LLC. We tell you, so you can answer the panel; the panel's decision is applied.
• A Panamanian order can still require disclosure. A Panamanian court or prosecutor's order reaches what we hold, which is one email.
• It does not hide a website. Your hosting provider, your DNS host and your visitors see what they always see.

No service can promise that a domain will never be suspended, and we do not.

Do I still own the domain?

Yes, as the beneficial owner. The terms commit DomaineGoat LLC to follow your instructions for the domain: DNS, nameservers, renewals and transfers. You can ask at any time, for free, to have the domain put back in your own name, which turns it into a standard domain; or you can request the auth code and move it to another registrar. For the extensions sold only with Domain protection, holding the domain in your own name means moving it to a registrar that collects what that registry requires. Read transfer out.