Internet Domain Name Accredited Registrars, Register

Note only one "at" or "@" is allowed, and that the domains form a hierarchy with the most general in scope last. And note that the choice of domain names must be administratively controlled and the highest level domain names must be globally unique.

- J. Postel; Computer Mail Meeting Notes, RFC 805; 8 Feb 1982.

The accredited registrars provide Internet domain name registration services.

In the fall of 1999, ICANN chose a list of accredited domain registrars as alternative suppliers to the original registrar Network Solutions, and now any of these registrars can register a domain name. The actual costs of administering a domain name are very low, and getting lower as technology and bandwidth gets cheaper, so domain registrars compete on cost and extra services. Many support the non-profit group CoreNIC.

Network Solutions has implemented a central registry database that is shared by all the accredited domain registrars, and so, because of their history, Network Solutions still retains a singular responsibility for the operation of the Internet. A range of standards govern this distributed registration system.

Countries. The IANA CCLTD Database maintains a list of the domain registrars for countries. For example, the following sites provide domain name registration services in various country top-level domains.

Top-level domains. The following sites provide domain name registration services in various other miscellaneous top-level domains.

Asia-Pacific Network Information Center -- APNIC
American Registry for Internet Numbers -- ARIN
RIPE NCC -- Réseaux IP Européens
US Department of Defence -- .mil domain
US Domain Registration Services -- .us domain
US Government -- .gov

Dispute resolution. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center handles disputes over the ownership and registration of domain names.

Accredited Domain Name Registrars