3 levels of domains name management

Level 1: ICANN

Since its founding in 1998, ICANN has been the premier Internet domain name management authority. The organization has developed documents that describe the rights and obligations of companies that register domains for money.

In the new system, the right to register common domains could be obtained by any company. Because of this, the Network Solutions monopoly stopped, registration prices fell, and the Internet began to grow faster.

Before accepting any document, ICANN publishes it on its website in order to receive comments from all comers. This helps to find controversial places and make the Internet convenient for all interested parties: ordinary users, business owners, representatives of the Internet community and government agencies of different countries.

Ignoring ICANN's requirements will not work, because the organization manages the servers that participate in the operation of the DNS system. This is a technology that helps the browser understand which server the site of a particular domain is on. If tomorrow the DNS stops working, we will not be able to use the domains.

Level 2: Registry

Information on registration of each domain name is stored in special registries. In them you can see who and when registered the domain, when the registration expires, where to look for the IP address of the server on which the site is stored.

One registry stores information about names from a single domain zone. Names in the .com zone are written to one registry, and in the .net zone to another.

The registry is managed by special registry organizations. They deactivate domains after the registration deadline, establish rules for registering names, and resolve disputes.

Any legally registered company can become a registry. The rights and obligations of the registry are described in the agreement on the ICANN website. It is signed by each organization that takes over the functions of the registry.

Level 3: Domain Registrar

Under ICANN rules, registries must sell domains through registrar intermediaries. The parties enter into a partnership agreement, after which the registrar receives the right to add new domains to the registry and renew them at the request of users. Any company can become a registrar, but for this it will have to get ICANN accreditation.

The registrar sets for each registrar a fixed amount for registering a domain in a particular zone, the registrar sells domains to users a little more, and leaves the difference to himself. We can say that the registry sells domains “in bulk”, and registrars “in retail.”