How to register a Domain Name

Registering a Domain Name

You've picked out the perfect domain name to represent your service, product or company. You've done your research to ensure that it does not pose major conflicts with any registered trademarks. And best of all, it's available in a good Top Level Domain (TLD).

So what do you do next? That depends on the answers to a few questions:

1. Who's going to host your domain?

If you're an individual and your domain is going to be hosted by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you'll probably ask them to handle the registration.

If you don't already have an ISP, check with several providers and compare their fees and monthly charges carefully. Most ISPs will charge you a monthly fee for a basic Internet access account, add an additional monthly amount for maintaining your "virtual domain," and charge you a one-time fee for setting up the account and registering the domain. They may pay the domain name registration fee and bill you for it later, or you may receive a bill from the registry.

One thing to make sure of is that you are registered as the owner of the domain name, not the ISP. After the name is registered, you should check your record at the registry to make sure all information therein is correct. Also, make sure the registration fee is paid - you don't want to wake up some morning to find that your domain is inaccessible because the name is on hold, due to lack of payment!.
If you're registering a name for a company that will operate its own Web server, you may want to have your technical people handle the registration, because they'll know all the nitty-gritty details like server IP addresses and administrative contact info. (But again, a word to the wise - after the name is registered, check your record at the registry to make sure it's correct - especially the billing contact information.)

Whether you're a company or an individual, you might want to consider registering more than one version of your domain name, just for protection. For some good advice on domain name strategy, read Domain Strategies for Geniuses.

2. In what TLD are you registering?
Most domain names used for commercial purposes are registered in the ".com" (dot com) Top Level Domain - so many that it's almost become the default domain extension. But there are other, far less crowded domains available. Each domain is administered by an agency that sets the rules for the names in the domain and maintains the database that relates domain names to the IP addresses of their host servers:

In addition to .com, .org, .net, .gov, and .edu are administered by the InterNIC (www.internic.net). When they were created, each domain was intended for a particular type of user -- .com for commercial companies, .org for non-profits, .net for domains related to network infrastructure, and .edu for higher-education institutions. Two domains, .gov and .mil, are reserved for the U.S. government, and you must be a qualifying educational institution to register in .edu. But the informal restrictions on .net and .org have been dropped in recent years to relieve the pressure on .com.
The U.S. national domain, .us, is used mostly by schools and local governments, but actually is open to anybody, and its naming convention presents some interesting opportunities for good names. Names are structured geographically, so a valid name will include a locality and a two-character state abbreviation -- loans.friendlybank.city.st.us, for example. There are also special Second Level Domains for secondary education (.k12) and other types of institutions. The .us domain is administered by the Information Sciences Institute of the University of California. You can learn more at the registry's Web page, www.isi.edu/in-notes/usdnr.
There are more than 240 other international domains. Each has its own specific requirements, as well. Some are wildly entrepreneurial operations trying to capitalize on a memorable domain extension -- the .to domain of the Kingdom of Tonga, for instance (www.tonic.to). Others are rigidly bureaucratic organizations that require you to have business interests or even residence in the country. www.netnames.com is one good source of information about the cost and requirements of national registrations.

3. Can you do the registration yourself?
Mostly, yes. It depends on the domain:

For all of the generic TLDs administered by the InterNIC, you can register names online at www.internic.net. You'll fill out a form (see "What do you need to know to register a domain name" below), and the information you enter will be e-mailed back to you in the form of an agreement. To complete the registration you must e-mail the agreement back to the InterNIC - and, of course, pay the $70 registration fee within 30 days.
Some of the international domains, particularly in countries with more restrictive policies on applicant confidentialities, set conditions on registration that require personal contact to resolve.
Other international domains (especially those that see domain names as a potential profit center) make it extremely easy to register a domain - you can register a name in the Niue Island's .nu domain www.nunames.nu and pay with a credit card on the spot!

4. What do you need to know to register a domain name?
For InterNIC registrations, you'll need

A name and contact information (address, phone number, and e-mail address) for the owner of the domain name
A billing contact person
An administrative contact person.

If you work for a company that has already registered a domain name, you can find much of this information in the InterNIC's registration record.

Search for this domain name, and in the InterNIC Domain Names Report, click on the name. You'll see the registration record.
After each contact name in parentheses you'll see their NIC handle (usually its their initials followed by a number, something like JS375).
You can enter these handles into the InterNIC registration template and save yourself a lot of typing.

You'll also need to know the IP addresses and server hostnames of the primary and secondary servers that will host the domain. · A server IP address is a string of numbers and periods - 140.244.1.69, for example. · A server hostname is also known as a "fully qualified domain name" - it's the name of the server plus any higher-level domains it's part of - apollo.westnet.acme.com, for example.

5. How many names can you register?
As many as you want. The current InterNIC system, for example, allows you to register an unlimited number of names and doesn't require you to pay for them immediately. You can register a whole set of names, and then pay for only those you want to keep. The rest will eventually be put "on hold" and then "deleted" as the time periods for paying the fees expire.

This has obviously left the system open to some abuse. Speculators routinely register names and then offer them for sale until they are deleted. Others have registered and paid for large numbers of names. The shortage of good names in .com has led to pressure for changes in the registration procedures that would require a name to actually be in use, or else it would be deleted.

It is important to note that if you register a trademarked name and later have to turn it over to the trademark owner, no domain registration fees will be refunded. (Yes, this is a subtle commercial for our trademark search reports!)

6. Do you have to use the names you register?
Currently, no. As long as you register and pay the fees for a domain name, it is yours to use (or not use) as you wish. It's a common strategy for companies to register names that could be derogatory or potentially damaging in the hands of competitors.

7. Can you buy a domain name from somebody else?
Absolutely. There are no legal restrictions on the sale of domain names. Get the name of the owner from the appropriate report, and contact them. (If there's a sizable amount of money involved, you might want to have a lawyer handle the transaction, to make sure it goes smoothly and fairly.) There are also many brokers of domain names - do a Web search for "domain name broker" or "domain sales."