What is a Registrar?

A registrar is a business that has the ability to register domain names on the behalf of anyone interested in obtaining a domain name. Registrars must accredited by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN) and may only be allowed to register certain top level domain names. The registrar must maintain domain name record information about each domain name and manage registration, expiration, re-registration, and NIC fee collection processes.

A registrar is a company or organization that registers domain names. Previously, Network Solutions was the only domain name registrar, but competition for registrars was opened in November of 1999, and now there are about 25 registrars globally. ICANN is the new governing body for registrars. See Also: ICANN, INTERNIC

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