Domain Name Registration webmasters link exchange

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Companies registering domain names. Can be generic top-level domains (gTLD) like .com/.net/.org .. or country-code top-level domains (ccLD) like .de, .co.uk, etc.

A regular user cannot directly register a domain and manage their domain information with ICANN and therefore a designated registrar must be chosen. Prior to 1999, the only com registrar was NSI, but the approval of the SRS opened up the opportunity for other companies to be designated as registrars.

Only the designated registrar may modify or delete information about a domain name. The competition that the SRS created enables end users to choose from many registrars offering different services at varying prices. It is not unusual for an end user to change registrars which invokes a domain transfer process governed by specific domain name transfer policies.

Each ICANN-accredited registrar must pay a fixed fee of US $4,000 plus a variable fee. The sum of variable registrar fees is intended to total US $3.8 million.

When a registrar registers a .com domain name for an end-user, it must pay a maximum annual fee to VeriSign (currently US $6.86 and growing), the registry operator for .com, and a US $0.20 administration fee to ICANN. Most domain registrars price their services and products to address both the annual fees and the administration fees that must be paid to ICANN. Barriers to entry into the bulk registrar industry are high for new companies without an existing customer base.

Many registrars also offer registration through reseller affiliates. An end-user registers either directly with a registrar, or indirectly through one or more layers of resellers. As of 2008, the cost generally ranges from a low of about $7.50 per year to about $35 per year. The maximum period of registration of a domain name is generally 10 years.

A Domain name transfer is the process of changing the designated registrar of a domain name. ICANN has defined a Policy on Transfer of Registrations between Registrars. The usual process of a domain name transfer is:

1. The end user verifies that the whois admin contact info is correct, particularly the email address; obtains the authentication code (EPP transfer code) from the old registrar, and removes any domain lock that has been placed on the registration.
2. The end user contacts the new registrar with the wish to transfer the domain name to their service, and supplies the authentication code.
3. The new registrar will contact the old registrar with this information.
4. The old registrar will contact the end user to confirm the authenticity of this request. The end user may have to take further action with the old registrar, such as returning to the online management tools, to re-iterate their desire to proceed, in order to expedite the transfer.
5. The old registrar will release authority to the new registrar.
6. The new registrar will notify the end user of transfer completion. The new registrar may have automatically copied over the domain server information, and everything on the website will continue to work as before. Otherwise, the domain server information will need to be updated with the new registrar.

After this process, the new registrar becomes the domain name's designated registrar. The process may take about five days. In some cases, the old registrar may intentionally delay the transfer as long as allowable. After transfer the domain cannot be transferred again for 60 days, except back to the previous registrar.

If a domain registration expires, irrespective of the reason, it can be difficult, expensive, or impossible for the original owner to get it back. After the expiration date, the domain status often passes through several management phases, often for a period of months; usually it does not simply become generally available.

It is unwise to attempt to transfer a domain immediately before it expires. In some cases, a transfer can take up to 14 days, meaning that the transfer may not complete before the registration expires. This could result in loss of the domain name registration and failure of the transfer. To avoid this, end users should either transfer well before the expiration date, or renew the registration before attempting the transfer.