Domain Name Blogger

A domain registrar is a company or individual who is accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or by a national ccTLD authority to register Internet domain names. ICANN insures that all registered names are unique and map properly to a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. It is the numerical address of the website that tells other computers on the Internet where to find the server host and domain. Some domain registrars can act as affiliates under accredited regsitrars, but they are not offically accredited by ICANN themselves although the body they report to or are controlled by is.

In 1999, there was still no Shared Registration System (SRS) with only Network Solutions operating the .com, .net, and .org registries, and was the de jure registrar and domain name 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. It was in or around October 1998 when the NSI’s agreement was amended requiring the creation of an SRS that supported multiple registrars.

Domain registration is accessible to the public via a registrar. Fees and services differ from company to company, but the process is very affordable. Before a domain registration can be approved, the new name must be checked against existing names in the DNS database. The online registrar provides a field into which you can enter your desired name hierarchy. Several examples are .com, .net, .org, .name, .info, .biz, and with so much more. If the name is not yet taken, it means that it is still free to use for domain registration. During the process, the applicant will be required to give contact information that will be publicly available through the WHOIS database and all registrars require that all of the given information must be accurate and true. If someone doesn’t want to provide their personal information, there are some registrars that will act as a proxy, supplying their information in place of your own as the contact for the domain. In most cases there is a fee for this domain privacy service and possible drawbacks to balance against the ability to maintain individual’s privacy, one must read the Terms and Conditions carefully before deciding to opt for a domain by proxy.