Who has oversight of registrars?

[RockBros]

Hello all,

Over the years, I've read about what appear to be UN-ethical business practices, by registrars i.e. "stealing searches", etc... That said, will someone please tell me, who has oversight of registrars, if anyone...?

ICANN?

 

[Grego85]

Registries for their particular extensions and ICANN

 

[Rob Monster]

As an operator of an ICANN-accredited registrar (Epik.com), I would agree that ICANN does oversee accredited registrars. That said, ICANN does not oversee resellers. In fact, a staggeringly large number of domains are registered at resellers, and not directly at accredited registrars. Some resellers do becomes accredited registrars but most operate without the expense and compliance requirements of accreditation. Why does this matter? Because resellers are governed by their own Terms of Service but are not accountable to ICANN. If a registrar loses their accreditation, that is a material write-off. If a reseller falls into trouble, they can simply find another domain supplier and switch with minimal switching cost.

At the end of the day, the industry is largely self-governing. The process for a registrant to complain to ICANN is a tedious process with generally little or no impact. I have observed it many times. If you have a legitimate beef with a registrar, a forum like NamePros serves the industry as a jury of peers for informed industry stakeholders. It does not protect the general consumer, e.g. small business owner or private citizen. For these folks, their best option is to work with an accredited registrar to serve as ombudsman to resolve a dispute. The registrar CEOs do all know each other and most are members of the ICANN Registrar Stakeholder Group. I have seen disputes and problems get resolved within hours. It is actually a beautiful thing that most registrants don't realize happens behind the scenes when there is foul play.

One domain industry process that does work well is UDRP via WIPO. It is far from perfect but if you are willing to absorb the expense of a 3-person panel, the panel will usually get the decision based on the facts presented by both complainant and respondent. The downside is that the cost of drafting and filing a UDRP quickly escalates into the thousands of dollars. Here again, it is wise to work with a registrar where you have a material portfolio and let them guide you in the cost-effective process of resolving a dispute. Most registrants will happily the cost and hassle of UDRP if a credible industry representative contacts them and outlines their options, i.e. sell for a reasonable fee or lose in UDRP.

So, depending on what you are trying to solve, you have different options. At the end of the day, you are well-served to partner with a capable registrar who can tell you in a few minutes how to handle a domain-related dispute before bothering with engaging an attorney or wasting your time on an ICANN complaint action. A number of the registrar execs do post here on NamePros. Happy to advise further. You can PM me if the topic is sensitive.

 

[RockBros]

Registries for their particular extensions and ICANN

Thanks, I appreciate your feedback!

 

[RockBros]

"...ICANN does oversee accredited registrars. That said, ICANN does not oversee resellers. In fact, a staggeringly large number of domains are registered at resellers...

...Because resellers are governed by their own Terms of Service but are not accountable to ICANN. If a registrar loses their accreditation, that is a material write-off. If a reseller falls into trouble, they can simply find another domain supplier and switch with minimal switching cost...

...For these folks, their best option is to work with an accredited registrar...

...you are well-served to partner with a capable registrar."

Thanks, that's very helpful!
Are all resellers required to offer domain name registration services through an ICANN-accredited registrar?

 

[Rob Monster]

Thanks, this was very helpful!
Are all resellers required to offer domain name registration services through an ICANN-accredited registrar?

It depends on whether the TLD is regulated by ICANN. Although the vast majority are regulated by ICANN, some ccTLDs are not regulated by ICANN, for example. However, any ICANN regulated registry is distributed through registrars. These registrars can in turn work with resellers.

On balance, I prefer to stick to the regulated registries. For example, there are many horror stories about rogue ccTLDs. The worst offender is .MU who pulled a customer's 3-letter domain, keeping it for themselves and was completely unaccountable to the registrant. The registrar community knows who to avoid.

 

[RockBros]

It depends on whether the TLD is regulated by ICANN. Although the vast majority are regulated by ICANN, some ccTLDs are not regulated by ICANN, for example. However, any ICANN regulated registry is distributed through registrars. These registrars can in turn work with resellers.

On balance, I prefer to stick to the regulated registries. For example, there are many horror stories about rogue ccTLDs. The worst offender is .MU who pulled a customer's 3-letter domain, keeping it for themselves and was completely unaccountable to the registrant. The registrar community knows who to avoid.

Thanks!
Let me rephrase that...Are all .com resellers required to offer domain name registration services through an ICANN-accredited registrar?

Your final point, is well-taken and begs the question...
How do the reseller, domainer and/or consumer communities know who to avoid?

 

[Rob Monster]

Thanks!
Let me rephrase that...Are all .com resellers required to offer domain name registration services through an ICANN-accredited registrar?

Your final point, is well-taken and begs the question...
How do the reseller, domainer and/or consumer communities know who to avoid?

Yes, .COM is managed by Verisign, which is ICANN regulated. There is no way to buy domains directly from Verisign as they distribute through ICANN accredited registrars.

As for resellers, simply avoid them. There are enough competent and accountable registrars. A few of them also ardently protect registrant rights. Epik.com is one of the few.

A propos protecting registrant rights, look up which registrars supported SOPA and PIPA. Epik is apparently the only major registrar that has stood up against the thugs at Legitscript. I blogged about it here.

 

[offthehandle]

At the end of the day, the industry is largely self-governing.

Self evident of what happens with poor self governance is fully documented here:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/bidding-on-your-own-names-at-namejet.1030874/

 

[Kate]

Icann does not have jurisdiction over ccTLDs, but they hold some sway at varying extents.

It depends if you have a problem with the registrar itself or the TLD.
For example, if an Icann-accredited registrar is trampling on your rights, you can in theory get Icann involved if the dispute is about a generic TLD.
If you have a problem with say, Cambodia because they seized your .kh domain, Icann will not help because Cambodia is sovereign country, and each country is free to set their own rules. Even the registrar will be powerless, usually. Icann is powerless too, regardless of whether the registrar is Icann-accredited, or simply a national registrar.
If the decision is blatantly unfair, Icann might try to liaise with the ccTLD representative and ask them to reconsider the decision, but this is outside normal process and it's more about good faith and personal relations here.

The question is rather broad. But let's continue the discussion with a purely national case not involving Icann. Say you registered a .fr, and the registrar has confiscated your domain to sell it to a friend. You could take your case to the national registry (Afnic), that has the power to sanction and even terminate registrars. They might revoke the registrar's accreditation for .fr but the registrar will still be able to sell other extensions. Then the registrar is not terminated, just suffered a setback.

Cctld registries tend to police their registrars, something that Verisign will not do for example because they are a technical provider and not a policymaker. Policy is Icann's job.

 

[RockBros]

Yes, .COM is managed by Verisign, which is ICANN regulated. There is no way to buy domains directly from Verisign as they distribute through ICANN accredited registrars.

As for resellers, simply avoid them. There are enough competent and accountable registrars. A few of them also ardently protect registrant rights. Epik.com is one of the few.

A propos protecting registrant rights, look up which registrars supported SOPA and PIPA. Epik is apparently the only major registrar that has stood up against the thugs at Legitscript. I blogged about it here.

Thanks!
To confirm...All resellers, even though, working with ICANN accredited registrars, who are working with ICANN accredited registries, are ONLY governed by their own Terms of Service but are NOT overseen by and/or accountable to the registrar, registry and/or ICANN?

That said, how does one know, if they're working with a reseller or not?

What is "propos"?

 

[Kate]

Icann has a listing of accredited registrars. They are allowed to use an Icann logo on their site.
Some registrars may be harder to identify because they use DBA names.

 

[RockBros]

Icann has a listing of accredited registrars. They are allowed to use an Icann logo on their site.
Some registrars may be harder to identify because they use DBA names.

Thanks!
A listing and logo is helpful! That said, I don’t get, why ICANN would not list them by their DBA, if they’re literally doing business with them.