Who owns a domain? How to check .lv, .eu and .com

To see who owns a domain, run a WHOIS lookup: a .lv company is shown by name and RegNr, while private .lv holders, .eu and most .com owners stay hidden.

That is the 2026 picture, eight years after GDPR reached WHOIS. Below: real records from 3 November 2026, the legal routes to a hidden owner, clues outside WHOIS and what to do when the name you want is taken.

What you can learn about a domain owner in 2026

• .lv, company holder: name, address and registration number (RegNr) are public.
• .lv, private person: hidden since 25 May 2018. The record shows only the type "Natural person" and the country, plus a link to a contact form at NIC.LV.
• .eu: the port 43 answer reads "Registrant: NOT DISCLOSED!". EURid's web WHOIS adds the email, and for a company also name, city and country.
• .com and .net: the registry names the registrar and gives creation and expiry dates, but no holder. The registrar's own record usually adds only the country and state.
• No dates for .lv and .eu: neither registry publishes a creation or expiry date.

What a WHOIS record shows today, zone by zone

We queried each registry over port 43 on 3 November 2026. The .lv sample is our own domain, so no third party's data is exposed:

$ whois -h whois.nic.lv cloudhosting.lv
[Domain]
Domain: cloudhosting.lv
Status: active

[Holder]
Type: Legal person
Country: LV
Name: CloudHosting, SIA
Address: Berzaunes iela 1, Riga, LV-1039, Latvija
RegNr: 40103966259
Visit: https://www.nic.lv/whois/contact/cloudhosting.lv to contact.

[Tech]
Type: Natural person
Visit: https://www.nic.lv/whois/contact/cloudhosting.lv to contact.

[Registrar]
Type: Legal person
Name: CloudHosting, SIA
Address: Berzaunes iela 1, Riga, LV-1039, Latvija
RegNr: 40103966259
Visit: https://www.nic.lv/whois/contact/cloudhosting.lv to contact.

[Nservers]
Nserver: ns.cloudhosting.lv
Nserver: ns2.cloudhosting.lv

[Whois]
Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:37.953739+00:00

Note three details. Our technical contact is a person, so it shows only as "Natural person". There is no creation or expiry date. And the "Updated" line at the end is when NIC.LV last refreshed the WHOIS database (four times a day), not when the domain changed.

$ whois -h whois.eu europa.eu
Domain: europa.eu
Registrant:
        NOT DISCLOSED!
        Visit www.eurid.eu for the web-based WHOIS.
Technical:
        Organisation: ClearMedia NV
Registrar:
        Name: ClearMedia NV

$ whois -h whois.verisign-grs.com "domain google.com"
Registrar: MarkMonitor Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 292
Creation Date: 1997-09-15T04:00:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2028-09-14T04:00:00Z
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: NS1.GOOGLE.COM

NIC.LV allows WHOIS use only for technical or administrative needs or to contact a holder over a legal problem, limits queries per IP address and forbids copying a significant part of the database (NIC.LV WHOIS policy). EURid's terms likewise forbid marketing use and copying a substantial part of the database. There is no reverse search by name or email in .lv, so a list of someone's domains cannot be built from WHOIS.

WHOIS or RDAP: where the data comes from now

WHOIS is a plain-text protocol on TCP port 43. Its successor, RDAP, returns structured data over HTTPS and links the registry record to the registrar's. Under ICANN's contracts every gTLD registry and registrar must run RDAP, and since 28 January 2025 they are no longer required to run WHOIS, except for .com, .name and .post (ICANN on RDAP).

Some registries have switched port 43 off: IANA no longer lists a WHOIS server for .dev and .app. The .com, .net and .org registries still answered on port 43 at the time of writing. Country-code zones sit outside ICANN's contracts, and whois.nic.lv and whois.eu run port 43 as before.

Our lookup queries each zone's registry over WHOIS on port 43, the protocol .lv and .eu use, and covers .lv, .com, .net, .org and .eu among others. For a gTLD that answers only over RDAP, ICANN's own client at lookup.icann.org reads the record and follows it to the registrar. That is how we saw the registrar's view of google.com: registrant state CA and country US, every other field redacted, and a web form in place of an email address.

The owner is hidden: legal ways to reach them

.lv: the NIC.LV contact form

Every .lv record links to nic.lv/whois/contact/<domain>. You enter your name, email, phone and message, and NIC.LV forwards it to the domain's contacts; you learn who they are only if they answer. Non-public data in the .lv register can be requested only by the holder or by state and municipal institutions, in cases set by Latvian law (NIC.LV WHOIS page). A company with a claim against a private .lv holder therefore uses the form, the ADR procedure below, or the police or a court, which can request the data.

.eu: a disclosure request to EURid

Start with EURid's web WHOIS, which shows the holder's email. If you need more, EURid's Registration Data Disclosure Policy of 18 October 2024 applies: fill in the request form, explain your legitimate interest and how you will use the data, and send it to legal@eurid.eu in any official EU language. If EURid finds the request legitimate, it discloses the data free of charge within 72 hours, or within 24 hours if you show the domain could threaten life or cause irreparable harm. The holder is not told about the request or the disclosure.

.com and other gTLDs: the registrar

ICANN's Registration Data Policy has been in force since 21 August 2025. The registrar must publish the holder's country and, if collected, the state; the organisation only if the holder agreed; and a contact address or web form instead of the email. Every registrar must also link from its home page to its disclosure request process, acknowledge a request within two business days and answer within 30 calendar days. ICANN's free RDRS passes requests to registrars that take part; participation is voluntary, and in October 2025 ICANN's Board extended the service for up to two more years. A privacy or proxy service in the record forwards messages and decides on disclosure under its own terms.

Which route fits your case

• You want to buy the name or ask a question: the contact form or web form named in the record. It is free and fastest.
• You have a legal claim, such as fraud or an unpaid debt: a disclosure request to EURid or the registrar; for .lv, through the police or a court.
• The name copies your trademark: go straight to ADR or UDRP below. You do not need to know the holder; the provider contacts them.
• The site is phishing or spreads malware: the registrar's abuse contact from the record and, for .lv, CERT.LV at cert@cert.lv.

Clues outside WHOIS

• RegNr: a .lv company record gives an 11-digit registration number. The Register of Enterprises (Uzņēmumu reģistrs) shows the company's officers, address and status free of charge at info.ur.gov.lv.
• Nameservers and MX: dig +short NS example.lv and dig +short MX example.lv show who runs DNS and email, which usually names the hosting provider.
• Certificates: OV and EV certificates carry the organisation's name, and every public certificate lands in Certificate Transparency logs, searchable at crt.sh. DV certificates, including free ones, name only the domain.
• The site itself: a site that collects personal data must name the data controller in its privacy policy (GDPR Article 13).

The name you want is taken: what you can do

1. Read the status. In gTLDs, redemptionPeriod means the registration was deleted and the holder has 30 days to restore it; pendingDelete follows for about five days, then the name is released. An unpaid .lv name is removed from the zone and can be registered again after a 30-day hold; a deleted .eu name sits in a 40-day quarantine in which only the holder can reactivate it. A name may come free this way, but it is never guaranteed.
2. Contact the holder through the routes above with a concrete offer, and complete the deal through an official change of holder at the registrar, not by paying a stranger first.
3. Pick another zone. If yourbrand.lv is taken, yourbrand.eu or yourbrand.com may be free. The checker on our domain registration page tests several zones at once. As of November 2026, .lv, .com, .eu, .net and .org cost 12.00 EUR a year excl. VAT (14.52 EUR with 21% VAT).
4. Use the trademark routes if the name abuses your rights:
   • .lv ADR: in the .lv rules since 1 September 2023, with WIPO handling cases since 1 October 2024. You need a right recognised in Latvia, such as a trademark or a firm name in the Commercial Register, and must show the name is identical or confusingly similar, the holder has no legitimate interest, and it was registered or is used in bad faith. Fee: 1400 EUR for one to five names. Proceedings are in Latvian unless the parties agree on English; the panel can cancel or transfer the name.
   • UDRP for gTLDs: the same three tests, but registration and use must both be in bad faith (ICANN UDRP). WIPO charges 1500 USD for one to five names with one panelist.
   • .eu ADR: run by the Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) or WIPO and open to holders of a prior right such as a trademark or company name (EURid on disputes). CAC's standard fee is 1300 EUR for one to five names with one panelist; a temporary 600 EUR EURid discount cuts it to 700 EUR for complaints filed by 31 December 2026.

Keep your own record clean

• Privacy: WHOIS privacy is free for gTLD domains registered with us. The .lv registry hides private persons by default.
• Company data stays public in .lv. NIC.LV lists a company holder's name, address, RegNr, email and phone as public, although port 43 shows only the first three. Plan for it, and use a role address such as domains@ rather than a staff member's name.
• Keep the holder email current. Registry reminders and dispute notices go to the contacts on record, and a complaint you never read can cost you the name.
• Renew on time. We send the renewal invoice 10 days before expiry and charge nothing automatically, so an unread invoice means an expired domain.

Questions to ask any registrar, us included

• Whose name is in the holder field? It should be yours or your company's, not your web agency's.
• Is WHOIS privacy included, and what stays public? With us: free for gTLDs; .lv follows the registry's rules above.
• How are renewals billed? With us: an invoice 10 days before expiry, no automatic charges.
• What does year two cost? With us the same as year one, except .io (39.00 EUR, then 55.00 EUR) and .shop (12.00 EUR, then 39.00 EUR).
• Are you accredited with the registry? We are an accredited .lv registrar.
• Who answers when DNS breaks? With us: monitoring and incident response 24/7, engineers on working days 9:00-17:00 Riga time.

Next steps and related reading

Start with the free WHOIS lookup: it shows whether a name is registered, by whom where the registry allows it, and where its DNS lives. If the name is taken, check alternatives on our domain registration page.

• How to register a .lv domain (and the NIC.LV rules)
• How to transfer a domain to another registrar without downtime
• What are DNS records? A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and NS explained
• What are NS servers and why do they matter