Company Domain Ownership in Egypt: Audit Your .com and .eg Before ICANN's New Transfer Rules

Summary: Company domain ownership is not about who paid the invoice. It means your company is the registered name holder and that renewal and control emails reach an address you own. For .com and other generic domains, ICANN's Transfer Policy applies, and ICANN's Board adopted new transfer rules on 7 June 2026 that are not in force yet. Egyptian .eg and .com.eg names follow the Egyptian Universities Network's own rules: changes go through the email address on file with the registry, and ownership can be proven with an official holding certificate. Audit both tracks now with a seven-step checklist, before you ever need to move a domain or change providers.

Many business owners in Egypt discover their company domain ownership problem at the worst possible moment: during a dispute with a web agency, after the employee who registered the domain with a personal email has left, or when the website and email suddenly stop because renewal notices were going to an inbox nobody reads. This guide explains the difference between paying for a domain and owning it, compares the rules for generic domains such as .com with those for Egyptian .eg and .com.eg names, summarises what ICANN decided about domain transfers in June 2026, and gives you a practical audit framework plus contract clauses that protect your business.

What does company domain ownership mean?

Put simply: company domain ownership means your company is the registered name holder in the domain's registry record and controls the account and email through which renewals, transfers and changes are approved. Real control over any domain has four separate layers:

• Registered name holder (registrant): the person or entity recorded in the domain record, and under ICANN policy the only party that can approve a transfer.
• Registrar or reseller account: the control panel used to renew the domain and request the transfer code, which may belong to your web agency rather than to you.
• Email on file: the address that receives renewal reminders, transfer confirmations and data-change notices.
• DNS management: whoever controls the records for your website and email, which may be a different provider from your registrar.

Note that registering a domain does not grant intellectual property in the name. The .eg registry's terms state that registration gives an exclusive licence to use the domain for a fixed period, not legal or intellectual property rights in the name itself. Trademark registration remains a separate, complementary step.

Why do Egyptian companies struggle to prove domain ownership?

From what we see at Smart One Group, the same situations repeat across clinics and SMEs:

• The design agency registered the domain inside its own reseller account, sometimes even listing itself as the registrant.
• A former employee or freelancer used a personal Gmail address, which was later closed or had its password changed.
• DNS records live in the developer's Cloudflare account or hosting panel, so email stops the moment there is a disagreement.
• Renewal notices go to an address nobody monitors, and the domain expires without anyone noticing.

The risk is practical. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy requires registrars to send at least two reminders before expiry, one about a month before and one about a week before, plus another within five days after expiry. Those reminders go to the registrant, so if the registrant email is your agency's, you will never see them. With .eg, the domain renews automatically, but if the fee is not paid within a month of the due date the domain is suspended, and after three months the name is released for anyone to register.

Two different tracks: .com versus .eg and .com.eg

The most common mistake we see is assuming .com transfer rules also apply to .com.eg. Generic domains are governed by ICANN consensus policies that bind accredited registrars, while Egyptian domains are run by the Egyptian Universities Network (EUN) of the Supreme Council of Universities under its own rules.

For .eg specifically, the EUN issues a domain holding certificate in Arabic and English showing the domain, the registering entity and the holding period, for a published fee of EGP 505 per domain. The request must come from the official email registered with the domain registration department, and registration or renewal fees must be paid first. If you are planning a new Egyptian domain, see our guide to registering a .eg domain in Egypt: documents and fees.

What did ICANN decide about domain transfers in June 2026?

At its 7 June 2026 meeting, ICANN's Board adopted all 47 Transfer Policy Review recommendations and directed that they be implemented. According to the working group's final report and the Registrar Stakeholder Group's summary, the main changes are:

• The AuthInfo code is renamed the Transfer Authorization Code (TAC), still issued within a maximum of 120 hours.
• Registrants get a notice within 10 minutes of a TAC being issued, and instant-approval links are removed from transfer confirmation emails to reduce hijacking.
• A mandatory 720-hour (30-day) lock after initial registration and after every registrar transfer replaces today's inconsistently applied 60-day restrictions.
• "Change of Registrant Data" becomes a standalone policy, the 60-day lock after a change of registrant is removed, and a notice must be sent within 24 hours of the change.

These rules are not in force yet. ICANN's September 2026 policy scorecard lists the Transfer Policy project as being in the planning and resourcing stage, and ICANN explains that announcing new policies normally opens a window of at least six months before they take effect.

What does this mean for a business owner today?

Until an effective date is announced, the current Transfer Policy still applies. A registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of creation or of the last transfer, and must apply a 60-day lock after a change of registrant unless it offered you an opt-out and you chose it before requesting the change. So if you plan to change the registrant and move to a new provider, ask about the opt-out before you start, or request the transfer first, as the policy itself advises.

Smart One Group's 7-step domain ownership audit

Our team built this framework and runs it with clients before any hosting migration or change of provider:

1. List every domain: include old campaign domains and any domain that redirects to your main site.
2. Split the tracks: separate .com and other generic domains from .eg and .com.eg, because each has a different authority and process.
3. Read the public record: for generic domains, use ICANN Lookup to see the registrar, expiry date and status. For .eg, ask the registry for a holding certificate or confirmation of the entity and email on file.
4. Test the email on file: make sure the registrant email is a role address on your own domain, such as domains@, managed by the company rather than an individual.
5. Move the account, not just the password: keep the registrar account in the company's name with two-step verification on, and give the agency delegated access rather than the other way round.
6. Secure DNS: export and store a copy of your DNS records and confirm the DNS account belongs to the company; see our DNS security checklist for Egyptian companies.
7. Lock in renewals: turn on auto-renewal where available and put expiry dates in the company calendar with a reminder two months ahead.

Clauses to include in your web or hosting contract

A good contract prevents the dispute before it happens. We recommend that any design, hosting or technical support contract states clearly that:

• The domain is registered in the company's legal name with an email the company owns.
• The transfer code is delivered, or the registry change request is filed, within a defined period on request.
• Responsibility for renewal, and how the company is warned before expiry, is spelled out.
• A copy of the DNS records and login details is handed over when the relationship ends.
• Handing over the domain is never tied to a payment dispute about other services.

To be clear: the current Transfer Policy prevents a registrar from refusing to release the AuthInfo code solely because of a payment dispute between the registrar and the registrant, but it does not settle commercial disputes between you and an agency that registered the domain in its own name. These clauses are guidance; review them with your legal adviser.

Frequently asked questions

How can I check that my company domain is registered in my name?

For generic domains such as .com, use ICANN Lookup to see the registrar, status and expiry date, then ask the registrar to confirm the registrant details, which are usually redacted. For .eg domains, request a domain holding certificate from the Egyptian Universities Network using the email on file.

Are ICANN's new domain transfer rules in force now?

No. ICANN's Board adopted them on 7 June 2026, but as of September 2026 implementation was still in planning, and effective dates are normally announced at least six months ahead. Until then, the current policy and its 60-day restrictions apply.

Does ICANN's Transfer Policy apply to .com.eg domains?

No. A .com.eg domain sits under Egypt's .eg country-code domain, which the Egyptian Universities Network runs under its own rules. Any change must be requested by the owning entity or its official delegate through the contact channels already on file with the registry.

What should I do if the domain is registered with a former employee's email?

Start by documenting the company's status, then contact the registrar or the .eg registry to switch the email on file to a role address. For .eg, a change to administrative details is requested on a form signed on the owning entity's letterhead.

What is the difference between an AuthInfo code and a TAC?

They are the same credential used to authorise moving a domain between registrars. AuthInfo is the term in the current policy; TAC is the term in the new recommendations, which add stronger composition requirements and a prompt notice whenever one is issued.

What happens if my .eg domain expires and I do not renew it?

Under the registry's rules, the domain is suspended one month after the due date without being offered to others, and three months after the due date the name becomes available for anyone to register without contacting you.

Domain ownership underpins every other digital asset you have: your website, your email and your search visibility. If you want your company's domains reviewed, transferred or their access reorganised, Smart One Group's domain registration and management team can run the audit with you. Contact us to arrange a no-obligation review.