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A domain name registrar is a company accredited, either by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), or by a national ccTLD authority or both, to register Internet domain names . ICANN has authority over gTLDs, or Generic Top Level Domains. Examples of gTLDs include .com, .net and .org. ICANN does not have authority over ccTLDs, or Country Code Top-Level Domains, though it is quite common for domain name registrars to offer ccTLD registration services as well. Most registrars provide DNS hosting service, but this is not required, and is often considered a separate service. Image File history File links Information_icon. ... ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... The term domain name has multiple related meanings: A name that is entered into a computer (e. ... A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a top-level domain used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organization. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... .net is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used on the Internets Domain Name System. ... .org (organization) is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Internets Domain Name System. ... ICANN (pronounced I can) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a top-level domain used and reserved for a country or a dependent territory. ... A DNS hosting service is a service that runs Domain Name System servers. ...

History

Until 1999, there was no Shared Registration System (SRS). Network Solutions (NSI) operated the .com, .net, and .org registries, and was the de jure registrar and registry. However, several companies had set up as de facto registrars, including NetNames, who invented the idea of a commercial standalone domain name registration service in 1996. Registrars formed another link in the food chain, introducing the concept of domain name sales, effectively introducing the wholesale model into the industry. NSI followed suit, forcing the issue of separation of Registry and Registrar. In October 1998, following pressure from the growing domain name registration business and other interested parties, NSI's agreement with the US Department of Commerce was amended, requiring the creation of an SRS that supported multiple registrars. The SRS officially opened on November 30, 1999 under the supervision of ICANN, though there had been several testbed registrars using the system since March 11, 1999. Since then, over 500 registrars have entered the market for domain name registration services. Network Solutions, LLC.—a technology company founded in 1979—was the first registrar of domain names. ... Look up De jure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of in principle and in practice, respectively, when one is describing political situations. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... The United States Department of Commerce is a Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... ICANN (pronounced I can) is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ... March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Designated registrar

An end-user alone, cannot register and manage their domain name information with ICANN. A designated registrar must be chosen to have one's domain names registered and managed with ICANN on their behalf. Prior to 1999, the only .com registrar was NSI, but after the approval of the SRS, this opened up the opportunity for other companies to be designated as registrars. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Only one's designated registrar may modify or delete information about a domain name. The competition that SRS created enables the end user to chose from many registrars offering different services at varying prices. It is not unusual for an end user to wish to switch registrars. Thus, there is the domain name transfer clause.

Domain name transfers

Domain name transfers is the act of designating a new registrar with the authority to add, modify, and delete information about the domain name. The usual process of a domain name transfer is to:

1. The end user contacts the new registrar with the wish to transfer the domain name to their service
2. The new registrar will contact the old registrar with this information
3. The old registrar will contact the end user to confirm the authenticity of this request
4. The old registrar will release authority to the new registrar
5. The new registrar will notify the end user of transfer completion

After this process, the new registrar becomes one's designated registrar and all correspondence shall be done with them.

Transfer scams

With the introduction of SRS, many smaller registrars had to compete with the de facto standard, NSI. Some companies offered value added services or used viral marketing. Some companies decided to trick customers to switch from NSI - akin to what some phone companies do to get new customers. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Word of mouth marketing. ...

Many of these transfer scams involve a notice sent in the mail, fax, or e-mail. Some scammers may even call by phone (as the contact information is available through WHOIS) to harvest more information. These notices would include information publicly available from the WHOIS database to add to the look of authenticity. The text would include legalese to confuse the end user into thinking that it is an official binding document. WHOIS is a TCP-based query/response protocol which is widely used for querying a database in order to determine the owner of a domain name, an IP address, or an autonomous system number on the Internet. ... Legalese is the term given to the special technical terminology of any given language (usually English) in a legal document. ...

If one receives such document, one should notify the resident "computer guy" or IT support person.

See also

• List of top ranking domain registrars
• Drop registrar
• Domain name registry
• Independent Domain Registrars

This is a list of domain registrars ranked in order according to the statistics at RegistrarStats as of May 21, 2006. ... A drop registrar is a domain name registrar that exists solely to catch expiring Internet domain names, for the purpose of selling them. ... now. ... Over the years in various countries alternative domain registrars have been established to allocate domains under domain hierarchies which gTLD or CcTLD hiearchies which compete with official gTLD and ccTLD. Independent Domain Registrar are not accredited by ICANN or have got their name spaced from IANA. They get their name...

External links

• A list of ICANN accredited registrars.
• Domain Name Registrars Coverage via CircleID
• How to become a Domain Name Registrar