patrickw

Gandi.net claims that you actually own, not lease, a domain name you register with them:

http://iwi.gandibar.net/post/2008/10/20/Who-is-Gandi-and-why-should-I-care-about-them

However, Wikipedia:

"...this transaction is termed a sale or lease of the domain name, and the registrant may sometimes be called an 'owner', but no such legal relationship is actually associated with the transaction, only the exclusive right to use the domain name."

Can you own a domain name in a legal sense? Or, are there any contractual reasons to prefer one registrar over another?