How can I find out who owned a domain in the past?

[tombstoneweb]

I hope this is the right place for this question.

I was searching for domain names using the DomainTools domain finder and came across a domain that has been registered, but no longer is. The thing is that the domain name has my name and my business name in it. So, now I am curious to see who it was that registered that domain name.

Does anyone here know how to find out this information?

Thanks in advance!

[wige]

Domain History - View historical whois records (http://domain-history.domaintools.com/) seems to offer historical DNS records, but they charge to view the records.

[tombstoneweb]

Domain History - View historical whois records (http://domain-history.domaintools.com/) seems to offer historical DNS records, but they charge to view the records.

Thank you Wige. I went there and came up with We do not have any history for that domain.

The listing I found it in (Domain Search (http://domain-search.domaintools.com/)) contains only domains that are currently registered or have been registered in the past so there has to be some information somewhere (I would think).

[djmdjmdjm]

If they had a webpage at that URL, it may be cataloged in the WayBack Machine (I'm constantly suprised at what I find there...)

Internet Archive: Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php)

-djm

[tombstoneweb]

If they had a webpage at that URL, it may be cataloged in the WayBack Machine (I'm constantly suprised at what I find there...)

Internet Archive: Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php)

-djm

Thanks djm, I went there but is seems most likely it was bought and never used or renewed. I'm guessing since my email address is my name and the domain name, it was bought in the hope that I would want that domain and may want to buy it.

[deepsand]

Thanks djm, I went there but is seems most likely it was bought and never used or renewed. I'm guessing since my email address is my name and the domain name, it was bought in the hope that I would want that domain and may want to buy it.
That would be the most logical conclusion.

Still, 'twould be nice if the kind of information that you seek were readily & freely available. I myself have previously sought such, to no avail. Most frustrating. :-(

[ron angel]

Thanks djm, I went there but is seems most likely it was bought and never used or renewed. I'm guessing since my email address is my name and the domain name, it was bought in the hope that I would want that domain and may want to buy it.
why not (if you have not done so already if not why not as somebody else may & you will loose out again!) contact the registrar of the page as it is in your name & email & ask them to renew it, then ask for the old details & new password as you never used it and cant remember them or whatever.should be no trouble as in your name....

[tombstoneweb]

why not (if you have not done so already if not why not as somebody else may & you will loose out again!) contact the registrar of the page as it is in your name & email & ask them to renew it, then ask for the old details & new password as you never used it and cant remember them or whatever.should be no trouble as in your name....

I see what you are saying, however I don't want the domain name. I'm just curious as to who registered the domain name. Thanks.

[deepsand]

why not (if you have not done so already if not why not as somebody else may & you will loose out again!) contact the registrar of the page as it is in your name & email & ask them to renew it, then ask for the old details & new password as you never used it and cant remember them or whatever.should be no trouble as in your name....
It's not currently registered; therefore, there is no current Registrar, no password, and there's nothing to be renewed.

I.e., it's an available DN, just as if it had never been registered. Anyone can claim it, using any Registrar.

[ron angel]

It's not currently registered; therefore, there is no current Registrar, no password, and there's nothing to be renewed.

I.e., it's an available DN, just as if it had never been registered. Anyone can claim it, using any Registrar.

It is still a good idea to register related sites to your own to prevent this sort of thing happening. I have all the sites relevant to mine, which I then put a 301 unframed redirect to my main site to catch any traffic. seems to work at very little outlay.

[deepsand]

The point was that there's no need for pretending to have owned the DN.

[HostingDude]

The only organization that tracks and records all WHOIS history is DomainTools (referenced above). I'm a gold member there, and if you PM me the domain, I'll look it up for you, assuming it doesn't cost me too many credits to do so.

They used to have a Silver membership that gave you unlimited access to almost everything in their databases. It was a good deal. That's back when they were known as whois.sc and not as domaintools.com.

Now they charge out the ying yang for a Gold membership, and it doesn't even give you as much as the Silver membership used to give you, greedy souls that they are. But then, it's not cheap to maintain that large of a database.

[deepsand]

Hm-mm.

Per DomainTools Memberships (http://www.domaintools.com/members/about/) , Free members get "one unit (complementary for the first six months of your membership)," and the only 2 Services with a Unit Cost of 1 are Reverse IP & Mark Alert; but, those 2 Services are not available to Free Members! :confused:

[HostingDude]

Sometimes ya can't be cheap, and ya gotta pay the piper. It takes money to run their servers. They're not as good a deal as they used to be, and I think credits should be cheaper, BUT, they have a right to charge for information that they have independently collected over the years.

[deepsand]

But, what good is a "free" unit if there's nothing that you can redeem it for?

[HostingDude]

Dunno. Didn't get the free membership. Got the Gold membership. Has plenty of credits included. All good with me. Expensive, yes, but worth it so far. Good investigative tool for problems. Clients will pay you to find out those sorts of things, and you'll charge them for your services (although I don't do it that way). Hope you find a use for that free credit. Sorry...