All About the Domain Industry, Part 2: Domain Name Registries
The Domain Industry is complex and is made up of many different entities, from regulatory bodies to registrars to the end customer. The following is part two of a multi-post series on the domain industry and its structure – intended to give a broad overview and some basic insights into the industry.
Posts: Part 1: ICANN, Part 2: Registries, Part 3: Registrars, Part 4: The Domain Aftermarket, Part 5: Customers & End Users
Registries: The Basics
In an attempt to not make explaining registries infinitely complex and confusing, here’s a very, very basic idea of what domain registries are and how they operate.
Domain name registries manage large databases of all the domains for a specific top-level domain. Registries consist of a variety of organization types, from government departments to non-profits to commercial for-profit businesses. The largest and most commonly heard of Domain Registry is Verisign, which oversees the .com, .net, .tv, .name, .cc, and .jobs databases. Some other notable Registry operators are Afilias, NeuStar, and Telnic. You can find a full list of the sponsoring organizations of gTLD registries on the ICANN Website.
Where Domain Registries Fit in the Industry
As mentioned in the last post, ICANN is in charge of allowing the creation of new TLDs. Organizations wishing to operate a new TLD submit an application and nonrefundable $185,000 application fee. If ICANN permits creation of the new TLD, the registry offers that TLD to ICANN accredited domain registrars who then register domains for that specific TLD to individual customers. Looking at the structure from the domain owner’s perspective, when someone buys a domain from a registrar such as Dotster (a .com, for instance), we then submit that registration information to Verisign to manage as a part of their .com database. That database is where Whois domain lookup information comes from.
How Registries Affect You
People registering domains often wonder where domain pricing comes from, and if it’s completely arbitrary or not. In reality, registries play a large part in registrar price-setting, because they charge registrars to add domains to their databases. By ICANN rules, registries must charge a flat rate to all registrars, but while there are some pricing limitations put on registries by ICANN, registries generally have some say in the price they charge. Whois Privacy services that many registrars such as Dotster provide essentially mask your personal contact info by sending the registrar’s information to the registry in place of your personal information.
Some registries also only allow second-level domain registrations. For instance, currently you can’t get a .uk domain name. Instead, options include .co.uk and .org.uk. This is because the registry for .uk has chosen to implement a second level of organization within their country code TLD.
Registries currently play background roles in the domain industry, but they could become much more important in the near future as ICANN prepares to allow for many new TLDs to be created. Registries will increasingly be involved in marketing their TLD to the public in an effort to raise awareness and fight the notion that .com is king. Except for Verisign, that is, who I’m sure will strive to make sure .com stays king.
There is much more in the way of details and depth to go into regarding registries, so if you’re curious and would like to know more, leave a comment and we’ll respond!
