[cabfpub] "Domain Name Registrar"

Peter Bowen pzb at amzn.com
Fri Jul 29 17:25:47 MST 2016


I had an interesting question come up recently which I had a hard time answering.  The Baseline Requirements have the following definition:

"Domain Name Registrar:  A person or entity that registers Domain Names under the auspices of or by agreement with: (i) the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), (ii) a national Domain Name authority/registry, or (iii) a Network Information Center (including their affiliates, contractors, delegates, successors, or assigns).”

I’m not entirely clear on how to map this to how the Internet works, given the various combinations that exist.

For most ICANN gTLDs, I think this is pretty clear: there is one Registry per TLD and many ICANN-accredited Registrars per TLD.  Each Registrar as a Registry-Registrar agreement with the Registry.

For some ccTLDs, it is also fairly easy: there is a Registry and it directly processes registrations.

Where it gets more confusing is when you look at a domain ending in labels such as co.dk or com.se.  It is possible to get a namespace allocation under these labels assigned to you.  However the TLD considers them to be registered domain names.  In the case of com.se, it is even more confusing as the entity operating the namespace is an ICANN accredited registry.

The confusion only gets worse when you consider co.za.  It is not operated by the za Registry but they seem to give it more standing than the se Registry gives to com.se.

Is there any clear rule on who qualifies as a “Domain Name Registrar”?

Thanks,
Peter




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