Domain Name Registrars

Domain name registrars

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.

Most registrars provide DNS hosting service.

History of domain name registrars

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.

Registering your domain name

If you are hosted by a free service you have little control over your domain name. Free webhosting services have their own domain names. If you want a unique domain name then you must register it yourself. Be sure to do a search first to see if the name you want is available.

Icann

ICANN (pronounced "I can") is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California, ICANN is a California non-profit corporation that was created on September 18, 1998 in order to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the U.S. Government by other organizations, notably IANA.

The tasks of ICANN include managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. To date, much of its work has concerned the introduction of new generic top-level domains. The technical work of ICANN is referred to as the IANA function; the rest of ICANN is mostly about defining policy.

(The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) oversees the domain registration business. If you ever have trouble with your registrar or if you are looking for an approved domain name registrar this is the place to go.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

InterNIC or Internet Network Information Center was the Internet governing body primarily responsible for domain name and IP address allocations until September 18, 1998 when this role was assumed by the ICANN body. It was accessed through the website internic.net which was run by Network Solutions, Inc and AT&T.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Network Solutions started as a technology consulting company in 1979, with approximately 30 employees, and focused its efforts on applications development. In 1992, Network Solutions was the sole bidder on a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the domain name registration service for the Internet.

After creating the domain name registration technology, Network Solutions became the first and only domain name registrar for the Internet, until 1999 when the domain name industry opened up to competition. Network Solutions was acquired by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 1995 and listed on NASDAQ in 1997.

In 2000, Network Solutions was acquired by VeriSign, Inc. for nearly $20 billion.

In 2003, Network Solutions was spun off as a privately held company. The current CEO is Champ Mitchell.