From what I understand, because the contact information pointed at Network Solutions' privacy protection service, there's no official "record" of ownership pointing to anyone else. So the domain ownership is in limbo since Network Solutions can't (or won't) verify the actual owner.

I think this also brings up the question of how much control registrars have over a "purchased" domain. Am I buying that domain? Or am I buying the ability to tell the registrar what to do with it?

Regardless of how the rules are presently defined, that would _never_ stand up in court. And I think it's a waste of time for us to squabble over nonsense that every rational thinking person knows is nonsense.

It's important to remember and consider the reason that registrars exist and the reason ICANN was created. All of these things are meant to protect the sanity of internet operations, not to contribute to their corruption and breakdown.

AFAIK:

You never own the domain. You register it for a period of time, subject to terms of an agreement. I'm almost certain of that, unless something has changed recently. I'm surprised so many on HN seem unaware of it.

If you use privacy protection, you are not the registrant; the privacy protection vendor is. That's what I've read in agreements with the privacy vendors, and that's what the whois record says.