What is an ICANN Accredited Registrar?
(Historical Data) In 1992, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) was granted an exclusive contract by the National Science Foundation to be the sole registrar for .com, .net and .org Domain names. NSI also maintained the central database of assigned names called WHOIS. Every “.com”, “.net” or “.org” domain registered anywhere in the world had to pay NSI a registrar fee. This “InterNIC Fee” was in addition to the service charges required for hosting of the domain name. InterNIC (Internet Network Information Center), is a cooperative activity between the U.S. government and Network Solutions, Inc., In 1997 the U.S. Department Of Commerce along with the Clinton Administration dismantled NSI’s monopoly and ordered the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit organization, to create and implement plans for an open, competitive market for registrations of .com, .net and .org domain names. Today, any accredited ICANN “registrar” or their authorized agents can issue or re
