Domain name registration services

A US monopoly?

[mayor]

Does the US hold a monopoly on domain name registration services? Isn't there some place like Switzerland where you can register a domain name in privacy without having to pay extra fees, or be watching over your shoulder for big brother to bust your door down for faking a registration.

Not that it's a big deal paying a couple extra dollars for privacy, but I don't feel I should have to pay for privacy.

[Dan_Norder]

If you want one of the names with a good extension the domains are controlled through an organization (ICANN) which is overseen by the US government.

If you pay exta for "privacy" you are really giving up legal ownership of the name to someone else with a contract to get it back. Of course those kinds of arrangements always have the potential to go bad. If they didn't give it back, how would you have proof that it was supposed to be yours, and how would you sue for it? There are any number of ways that could turn out to be a huge hassle.

So, yeah, if you are all paranoid about it, you are out of luck.