What is ICANN?

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a non-profit organization that is in charge of top level domains and dns name server organization to keep the internet secure and stable.

ICANN is in charge of all the world wide domain registrars. A domain registry company must accept and follow the domain registration rules provided by the ICANN. This is a must if you want to work directly as an ICANN approved domain registrar. Otherwise you can also work with a domain reseller company like ResellerClub.

But at the end, even the reseller company must be approved by ICANN.

ICANN is responsible for lot of things, including:

  • Requiring customres to agree with their domain registration and dns terms.
  • Publish up to date WHOIS information about domain names.
  • Notify domain registrars when their domains are about to expire.
  • Coordinate the DNS identifiers across the world.
  • Oversee complex interconnected networks to find each other.

As you see, ICANN is not only responsible for the domain registrations, but also for the DNS system and the interconnections between IP and DNS servers that allows the internet to evolve and grow naturally.

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About the Author: Santiago Borges

Experienced Sr. Linux SysAdmin and Web Technologist, passionate about building tools, automating processes, fixing server issues, troubleshooting, securing and optimizing high traffic websites.