Best way to register a domain

ID:183831
 
Apr 4 2007, 1:42 am
Why do you have to go through a "domain registrar" to get a domain? Who is ultimately responsible for domain registration, and why wouldn't it be cheapest and best to go through them directly? I mean, websites like GoDaddy have to go through somebody else, right?

Just wondering if anybody else knows more about this than I do.
Apr 4 2007, 5:03 am
Well, ICANN controls the domains, and they select people to be registrars so that they can trust a certain level of control. There are a lot of policies and procedures that the registrars must go through and they can have their rights removed(Dreamhost mentioned a company that did recently due to not following the guidelines and making it hard/impossible for their users to switch to a new one).

It would be nice if you could go directly to the source, but all those requests at once would probably be nearly impossible to handle. On top of that, it is nice to be able to sub contract things. They don't have to directly handle all the questions that domain buyers no doubt have.
Apr 4 2007, 8:32 am
In response to Danial.Beta
That's a good answer. Any suggestions on who is the best domain registrar?
Apr 4 2007, 8:43 am
In response to PirateHead
I've had pretty good success with GoDaddy, just don't host with them, their hosting sucks.
Apr 4 2007, 9:00 am
In response to Nadrew
I think their protection of customers is pretty spotty, though. If I want to host something controversial, it would be nice to know my registrar won't pull the plug on me.
Apr 4 2007, 9:13 am
In response to PirateHead
I don't know their policy on controversial things, but I enjoy dreamhost. They cost a bit more than Godaddy, but Ill be damned if their panel isn't the easiest I have ever used.
Apr 4 2007, 9:15 am
In response to PirateHead
I've never had any problems with them pulling the plug on my domains, I don't think they care if you're not using their hosting package. I've been using them for about eight years now with no problems.
Apr 4 2007, 10:10 am
In response to Danial.Beta
I decided to go with iDotz.net -- if it's good enough for ThePirateBay, it's good enough for me.
Apr 4 2007, 11:32 am
In response to PirateHead
I use domainsite.com for domain registration.

I use godaddy for hosting atm, and it does kinda blow. Although I can't say my site's have ever been down, there's two issues. Customer service blows, and they don't offer perl, at least not on their basic package.
Apr 4 2007, 11:54 am
In response to PirateHead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godaddy#Controversies

They do seem pretty bad. It can't be good when part of the ToS is "[GoDaddy] reserves the right to terminate your access to the services at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever."
Apr 4 2007, 12:29 pm
In response to Airjoe
Airjoe wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godaddy#Controversies

They do seem pretty bad. It can't be good when part of the ToS is "[GoDaddy] reserves the right to terminate your access to the services at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever."

After they've removed them, they'll return your domains to you, for a small $50+ fee.
Apr 5 2007, 4:07 pm
In response to Jon88
Godaddy is a very bad hosting company personally I would never use them. Then again iv ran over sites such as http://nodaddy.com/ an others. Personally I could never trust the site myself. As for domain names. If your looking to just register one I have the one iv used for ages now but I cant seem to find the link at the moment. But ill keep you posted if your interested.
Apr 5 2007, 5:51 pm
In response to PirateHead
Uhm, I believe Key-Systems is the registrar that ThePirateBay uses. Check the WHOIS for the pirate bay, and you'll see "Sponsoring Registrar:Key-Systems GmbH (R51-LROR)"
Apr 6 2007, 12:25 am
In response to Airjoe
That may be true. I asked in ThePirateBay's IRC channel and was told iDotz, but I'm not sure that those people knew what they were talking about.
Apr 7 2007, 3:29 pm
In response to Airjoe
Yeah, that seems to be the policy for a ton of companies though. I don't know if domain hosting is different. It's like their fallback in case anything happens, I guess.