Unfortunately if you do not fully own your own ICANN registrar, for example, like Facebook [1], then your domain remains in the hands of the registrar; it doesn

Unfortunately if you do not fully own your own ICANN registrar, for example, like Facebook [1], then your domain remains in the hands of the registrar; it doesn't matter what your WHOIS states. I've looked into this exact problem because I wanted to know, what it takes to fully and completely own your own domain. The best way is to apply for an ICANN registrar accreditation which entails these requirements [2]: - US$3,500 application fee, which is non-refundable regardless of whether the application is approved, denied, or withdrawn. - US$4,000 yearly accreditation fee due upon approval and each year thereafter. - $70,000 USD in liquid assets In the case of Facebook, they were able to receive an expedited approval since link [1] indicates that their company will not be buying nor selling any domains. It just exists for the sole purpose of owning the domain. Why did Facebook do this, you may ask? Well, social engineering. An Njal.la hosted domain was successfully transferred to Namecheap (through no fault of Njal.la) through forged German Court records [3]. So now, no one can socially engineer the domain away from FB and I suspect the vast majority of these companies. RIP. Looks like I won't be owning my own domain anytime soon. [1] https://registrarsec.com/ https://registrarsec.com/ [2] https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/financials-55-2012-02-25-en https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/financials-55-2012-02-... [3] https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8833/dark-fail-fake-court-order-dark-web-markets https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8833/dark-fail-fake-court-...