Who runs domains: registries, registrars and ICANN

The short version

• ICANN sets the rules for the whole domain system.
• IANA keeps the master lists, including the list of every top-level domain.
• A registry runs one top-level domain, such as .com.
• A registrar is the shop that sells you a name under that domain.
• You don't buy a domain forever. You register it for a set time and renew it.

ICANN sets the rules

ICANN is a not-for-profit group, formed in 1998. Its job is to keep the internet's names and numbers safe and working together.^[1]

ICANN does not decide what goes on websites.^[1] It looks after the naming system that sits underneath them.

It does this mostly through contracts. ICANN signs a contract with each registry.^[1] It also decides which registrars are allowed to sell names in the generic top-level domains.^[1]

IANA keeps the master lists

Some things on the internet must mean the same thing everywhere. A domain name has to belong to just one party, all over the world.^[2]

IANA keeps the official lists that make sure of this.^[2] One of them is the list of every top-level domain, which you met in the last chapter.

Today, IANA's work is done by a group set up by ICANN just for that job.^[2]

A registry runs one top-level domain

Each top-level domain has one organisation in charge of it. That organisation is called the registry. It keeps the full list of every name registered under its domain.^[1]

Some examples from IANA's list:

• The .com registry is run by VeriSign.^[3]
• The .au registry is run by .au Domain Administration, or auDA.^[4]

You normally never deal with the registry yourself. You deal with a registrar.

A registrar sells you the name

A registrar is a business that sells domain names to the public. Many registrars compete with each other. Each one sets its own prices. For each name it sells, it pays a set fee to the registry.^[1]

For the generic top-level domains, a registrar needs ICANN's approval. This approval is called accreditation. An accredited registrar can deal with the registry directly.^[5]

ICANN publishes the list of approved registrars on its website:

Country-code domains, like .au, usually have their own approval process.^[6]

Some shops sell names for a registrar without being one. These are called resellers.^[6] A web host that sells you a domain may be one of them.

You are the registrant

The person or business that registers a name is the registrant. When you register a name, you make a contract with a registrar.^[7]

After that, the registrar is where you manage the name.^[7] Changing the nameservers is one example. You log in to your registrar's site to do it.

Do you own your domain?

Not quite. You register it for a set time, and you can renew it before that time runs out.

For the generic top-level domains, one registration can last up to 10 years.^[6] Many people choose one year at a time.

Renewing on time matters. If a registration runs out, getting the name back can be hard, costly or impossible.^[6] ICANN tells registrants to keep their contact details up to date.^[7]

Finding out who your registrar is

Sometimes you don't know where a domain was registered. A web designer may have bought it for you years ago.

ICANN has a tool for this. It is called ICANN Lookup, and it shows the registrar for a domain.^[7]

Type the domain into the box, then press Lookup. The result names the registrar for that domain.

Next: how a lookup works

You now know who keeps the lists and who sells the names. Next, see what happens when you type an address, and how a computer uses those lists to find a website.