There are multiple organizations, entities, and businesses that each have responsibilities with domain management. Contacting the correct group is necessary to get the proper support as a domain owner.
Registry
The registry manages top-level domain names (TLD) with a database of all domain names and the registrant information. They create domain name extensions, place rules for each domain name, and work with registrars to sell domain names. Below are examples of the registries for the most common TLDs.
Domain registries:
| Verisign | .COM |
| auDA | .AU |
| Nominet | .UK |
| Public Interest Registry | .ORG |
| EURid | .EU |
Registrar
An organization that manages the reservation of internet domain names and handles the domains' Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The organization Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) accredits all registrars. They are responsible for updating the registry when a customer purchases a new domain name, and the information is up to date.
Example of domain registrars:
| Enom | ||
Reseller
A reseller offers domain name services through a registrar which handles registering, renewing and managing domains under their accounts. They would also be responsible for the DNS records and nameservers for the domains and charging domain owners for their services on their systems.
As the reseller manages the domain using the OpenSRS system, the domain owner will have to contact their reseller for any support.
Example of some resellers under OpenSRS:
Unresponsive reseller
If you have contacted your reseller multiple times with all communication methods and have not received any responses from them. In that case, you will have to contact our compliance team for support.
Note: Most resellers should respond within 24 hours. The registrant should use the compliance form if it has been more than 3-5 business days or the issue is time-sensitive.
Registrant (owner)
A registrant is an individual or entity who registers a domain name. Upon domain name registration, the registrant enters into a contract with a registrar for the duration of the registration period. The contract describes the terms under which the registrar agrees to register and maintain the requested name. Anyone can be a domain owner if they provide the required information to the reseller when registering a domain. These rules set by the registry can not be circumvented.
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