Domain Name Registration: Domain Name Governing Bodies

Thousands of domain names are registered on a daily basis. Understandably, this type of volume requires constant regulation to prevent disorganisation. To this end, various independent governing bodies have been established to maintain order within the industry. This article will briefly touch upon the following organisations:

Domain Name Registration: Who is Nominet UK?

Nominet UK is the governing body (or registry) for all domain names ending in a .uk extension. Nominet was established in 1996 as a not-for-profit company after attempts to set itself up as a private company or charity were rejected. Nominet is now UK government recognised as the official administrator and manager of the .uk domain name extension.

The need for Nominet arose in the mid nineties, with the advent of the World Wide Web. Before this time, domain name registration was taken care of on a commercial basis by emerging Internet Service Providers such as Demon Internet and British Telecom. As the popularity of the web began to expand rapidly, these organisations established a voluntary Naming Committee in order to regulate the applications for domain names.

However, as the demand for domain name registration grew all the more, it became increasingly clear that the voluntary committee would struggle to cope with the demand. To this end, the decision was made to set up a professional body, resulting in the creation of Nominet UK.

Nominet handle: .co.uk / .org.uk / .me.uk / .ltd.uk / .plc.uk

Advantages of registering a Nominet domain name:
The domain name extension is UK specific and as such is useful for targetting visitors from the United Kingdom.
Whether you are a UK organisation, individual, limited company or PLC, there are a sufficient array of domain name extensions to precisely indicate the nature of your website.

Domain Name Registration: Who is Network Solutions/InterNIC/Verisign?

Network Solutions is the governing body responsible for the administration and routing of the popular .com, .net and .org domain names. Like all other overseeing bodies, Network Solutions ensure that no duplicate domain names are issued and keeps track of the status of all domain names under their charge. At the time of writing, Network Solutions are currently the largest accredited domain name registrars and have recently been taken over by the company Verisign.

Network Solutions/InterNIC/Verisign handle: .com / .org / .net

Advantages of registering a Network Solutions/InterNIC domain name:
The .com, .org and .net domain name extensions are long-standing, established and very popular amongst Internet users. Also, due to their long-standing status, these extensions have acquired quite a high level of prestige.

Domain Name Registration: Who is CentralNIC?

CentralNIC is the governing body behind the .xx.com/net domain name extensions. From its headquarters in London, United Kingdom, CentralNIC administers the registration of 18 top level domains for a worldwide market, including .gb.com, .uk.net and us.com.

CentralNIC was originally founded in 1995, under the name of NomiNation and reestablished itself under the current name in 2000. Its primary focus is to provide an easy and straightforward way for Internet users to register distinctive domain names with regional and country-specific identities.

The typical Internet user will turn to a CentralNIC domain name if the corresponding Network Solutions/InterNIC domain is unavailable. For example, if a uk-based user misses the opportunity to register http://www.anydesireddomain.com, he or she can register http://www.anydesireddomain.gb.com as an acceptable alternative.

CentralNIC handle: .eu.com / .se.com / .cn.com / .uk.net / .br.com / .sa.com / .uk.com / .za.com / .ru.com / .us.com
.gb.net / .no.com / .qc.com / .uy.com / .gb.com / .se.net / .de.com / .hu.com

Advantages of registering a CentralNIC domain name:
CentralNIC domain name extensions are country specific and registering them allows for the targetting of specific world zones.
The extensions offered by CentralNIC often prove more than adequate alternatives to already-registered Network Solutions domains.