What is a domain name registrar?
A domain name registrar is the organization or company responsible for providing domain name registration services to the public. A domain name registrar is either authorized by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an organization dedicated to Internet governance) to provide registration services for the .com, .net and .org global top-level domain names, or is authorized by its respective government to register domain names within a specific ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain name extension). CIRA provides this function in Canada. A registrar must also be authorized by the registry of a Top Level Domain to act as an agent of the registry to process domain name registrations, where the agent is not a reseller. The registrar is also responsible for creating and maintaining a WHOIS database for its customers.
A Domain Name Registrar is a company that can sell domain names. To do so it will be accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to sell top level domain names or gFTDs (generic top level domains) such as .com, .org., .net and .biz. Every country in the world has a two letter code which is used to make a ccTLD (country code top level domain). These ccTLDs are operated by a range of organizations with differing rules from one country to another. Within the UK, the .uk domain name registry is Nominet UK. This is a not for profit company. It is known as the UK Registry. In the UK, domain names are not bought directly through Nominet, but via 3rd parties (Tag Holders).
A domain name registrar is the organization or company responsible for providing domain name registration services to the Internet community. An official domain name registrar is either authorized by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, an organization dedicated to Internet governance) to provide registration services for the .com, .net and .org global top-level domain names, or is authorized by its respective government to register domain names within a specific ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain name extension). CIRA provides this function in Canada. A registrar must also be authorized by the registry of a Top Level Domain to act as an agent of the registry to process domain name registrations, where the agent is not a reseller. The registrar is also responsible for creating and maintaining a WHOIS database for its customers.
