On Saturday, July 12, 2003, 4:48:27 PM, Cheryl D. Wise commented: CDW> Okay, there used to be only 7 for .com, .org and .net. Each country had its CDW> own registrar for country specific tlds. There was only one registrar for CDW> the .edus.
Not since 1999, there were dozens of ICANN registrants within the first few months after ICANN was created in October 98. There used to be only 7 generic TLD's available (.com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil, .arpa) when the system was established in 1985 - so that's probably where you get the number 7 from. Great article on that here: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-level_domain I think you have the concept of domain registrars confused with TLD registries. There is only ONE registry for each TLD (though some registries may handle many TLDs), but you can't buy a TLD directly from a registry, such as Afilias (.info), Internic (for .com, .net, etc.), They essentially maintain the centralized database for each TLD - but registration is done through an ICANN- authorized registrar. At the next level UNDER ICANN-registrars are the resellers. Some of the registrars sell directly to the public, others work exclusively through resellers. Generally resellers offer better pricing, but they aren't required to post a bond like the ICANN-registrars - so someone dealing with an unscrupulous or negligent reseller could lose their domain and find they had little or no recourse. (Example: low-level individual reseller takes money to register or re-register domain, but fails to timely purchase or pay ICANN registrar - meanwhile, domain expires or is purchased by someone else via a different reseller or directly from the registrar). So basically Namecheap.com is a good deal for someone with only a few domain names to handle, where no domain has a very high market value for the name. If you are managing a large number of domains or a very valuable domain, then you want to deal directly with an ICANN-approved registrar. (You're a lawyer: it's all about who you can sue if something goes wrong - if the domain is worth a few hundred thou, better that the company handling the registration and renewal has deep pockets). Anyway, so much for the lesson in TLD's. I have something I wrote about it all here: http://www.webfavor.com/tips/domain.html but I haven't updated that page in 3+ years, so it's a little dated. -Abigail ____ � The WDVL Discussion List from WDVL.COM � ____ To Join wdvltalk, Send An Email To: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Send Your Posts To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change subscription settings to the wdvltalk digest version: http://wdvl.internet.com/WDVL/Forum/#sub ________________ http://www.wdvl.com _______________________ You are currently subscribed to wdvltalk as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
