Accredited Registrar - A domain registrar that has been certified to meet a list of criteria determined by ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). An "accredited registrar" is typically one that has been accredited by ICANN.

Administrative Contact - The administrative contact is the individual or organization that has been authorized to correspond with the domain registrar on behalf of the Registrant (Domain Owner). The administrative contact is viewed as the authoritative point of contact for the domain name, second only to the Registrant.

Billing Contact - The billing contact is the contact that will receive invoices and billing correspondence for domain registration fees.

Country Code Top Level Domain - Every country has been given a unique country code based on its UN abbreviation. Some examples of Country Code Top Level domains include: .CC, .JP, .CA, and .UK as opposed to Generic top level domains like .COM, .NET and .ORG, Country-level domains may have specific restrictions set by the country of origin. These restrictions may include having a Tax ID number in the associated country, or having a business presence.

DNS - (Domain Name System) The domain name system is the system that allows domain names to be associated with IP addresses. For instance, when a domain name such as hotmail.com is entered into a web browser, the browser looks up the domain name, and locates the web page at the associated IP address such as 24.112.123.81.

Domain Name - Domain names define computers on a network (such as the Internet). Top-level domains such as .COM, .NET and .ORG are considered primary level domains. Secondary level domains are the words preceding the primary domain such as hotmail (in hotmail.com). So in the case of hotmail.com, "hotmail" represents the second level domain and ".COM" represents the top level domain. Domain names are translated by the DNS (domain name system) into numeric IP addresses.

Extensible Markup Language - (XML) is a markup language for documents containing structured information. It uses a similar tag structure as HTML, but instead of defining how elements are displayed (on a web page), XML defines what the elements contain. It adds advanced functionality to web pages by essentially allowing them to function as databases. It is for the reason XML is expected to be the predominant language facilitating electronic data interchange.

gTLD - see Generic Top Level Domain

Generic Top Level Domain - The current Generic Top Level Domains include .COM, .NET and .ORG. No restrictions are placed on gTLD's and registration is open to anyone. ICANN has recently approved seven new gTLD's which include: .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME, .PRO, .MUSEUM, .COOP, and .AERO.

Host - A computer that acts as a source of information for other computers or devices. For domain names, the term host generally refers to the name server.

IANA - (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) This organization is responsible for overseeing IP address allocation and the management of the domain name system.

ICANN - See Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Intellectual Property - Intellectual property includes intangible materials that are legally recognized as proprietary to an organization. Examples of Intellectual Property include patents, trademarks, databases, mailing lists and trade secrets.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - (www.icann.org) An international non-profit association founded in 1998 to oversee a number of functions: IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, management of the domain name system and root server system.

Internet Protocol - The protocol supporting the Internet. Internet protocol allows a large network of computers to interact efficiently over a very large geographical area.

InterNIC - (Internet Network Information Center) The domain name registration project that was formed in 1993 by agreements between Network Solutions, the National Science Foundation, General Atomics, and AT&T. Network Solutions was given the responsibility of providing domain registration services for .COM, .NET, .ORG and .EDU. Network Solutions no longer operates under the name InterNIC.

IP Address - (Internet Protocol address) This is the address of a computer attached to a TCP/IP network. All computers on a network must have a unique IP address. IP addresses are comprised of four sets of numbers separated by periods; for example, 24.17.3.21.

Name Server - Also known as Domain Name System server (DNS) maintains a database of domain names (host names) and their corresponding IP addresses. This is what allows for domain names to index specific IP addresses on the Internet.

NIC Handle - Network Information Center (NIC) handles are unique characters issued by a registrars computer system. NIC handles allow you to register another domain name without the need to re-enter contact information.

NSI Registry Registrar Protocol - This protocol was developed to facilitate communication between registrars and the domain name registry at Network Solutions. This protocol allows registrars to register second level domain names in the top levels that are maintained by Network Solutions (such as .COM, .NET and .ORG).

Operational Test and Evaluation - The testing phase used by ICANN to ensure that registrars meet the strict requirements needed for registrar accreditation. This test uses the Shared Registration System which includes an isolated, shared Operational Test and Evaluation server environment that is used for both initial registrar system development and ongoing registrar development and testing. Testing must be completed without error before a registrar is given access to the Shared Registration System (SRS).

Primary Name Server - When a domain name is listed within a registry, the primary name server refers to the name server that will be accessed by a host when looking up the domain name. In general, two name servers are required for a domain. This ensures that a site will still be accessible if the first name server is unavailable.

Registrant - The individual or organization that claims ownership to a domain name. As long as the domain registration is valid, the registrant owns the right to the domain name.

Registrar - An organization that provides domain registration services, through another registrar, or through a registry. See also - Accredited Registrar.

Registry - The Internet domain name registry is an organization that is responsible for maintaining and providing services. This includes collecting information such as DNS server information and submitting that information into the Shared Registration System (SRS). The registry for .COM, .NET and .ORG is Network Solutions.

Registry Registrar Protocol (RRP) - The protocol for the management and registration of second level domain names and associated name servers in both Top Level Domains (TLDs) and country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs).

Resolve - The term used to describe the process by which domain names are associated with corresponding Internet Protocol (IP) numbers. All domain names typed into browsers, such as www.google.com, resolves to a specific IP address. "Resolution" is accomplished by a combination of computers and software that use the data in the Domain Name System to determine which IP numbers correlate to a particular domain name.

Root Server - Located around the world, these 13 servers hold the information for the top level domain names (TLD's).

Secondary Name Server - This name server will be used as a backup for the primary name server for a domain name. If the primary name server becomes unavailable for any reason, the host will be directed to the secondary name server.

SLD (Second Level Domain) - A "SLD" is a second-level domain of the DNS. An example of a second level domain would be "yahoo" in "www.yahoo.com" with ".com" being the TLD (top level domain).

Sponsoring Registrar - The Registrar responsible for the submission of domain names into the Registry.

SRS (Shared Registration System) - The Shared Registration System permits registrars to provide Internet domain name registration services within the top-level domains (TLDs).

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) - SSL is a security protocol that provides high-security communications over the Internet. The protocol allows client/server applications to communicate in a way that is designed to prevent snooping, tampering, and forgery of messages.

Technical Contact - The individual or organization responsible for the technical administration of the associated domain name. The technical contact is the contact for such issues concerning DNS modifications or the modifications of other such records associated with the domain name.

TLD (Top Level Domain) - The first level of the hierarchy in a domain name. Domain extensions such as .COM, .NET and .ORG are top levels. For instance, in the Internet domain name "yahoo.com", yahoo would be the second level, while .com would be the top level.

TLD Zone - A file containing data describing a portion of the domain name space for a specific top-level domain. Zone files contain the information needed to resolve domain names to Internet Protocol (IP) numbers. Zone files contain domain names, their associated name server names, and the IP addresses for those name servers.

Trademark - A name, symbol, or other device identifying a product, officially registered and legally restricted to the use of the owner or manufacturer.

UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) - All registrars of the .COM, .NET, and the other top-level extensions abide by ICANN's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. Often known as the "UDRP", this policy sets guidelines for trademark-based domain disputes. Most disputes must be resolved by an arbitration panel or through the judicial court system before the domain in question can be transferred, suspended or cancelled.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - An URL is an address that specifies a location on the Internet. URL's allow for any file (generally an html file) to be accessed easily by anyone who is on the Internet. For example, http://www.yahoo.com/index.html.

W3C - see World Wide Web Consortium

Web-based Whois - A World Wide Web interface to Whois services.

Whois - Used to query a host to determine if a certain user is registered on that system. Within the context of domain names, a whois query generally refers to a query on a domain name, which provides information on the registrant / owner of the domain name. A domain whois will return information including the registrants name, contact information, address, and the domain name's expiration date.

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) -WIPO is responsible for the protection of intellectual property rights on an international level. They provide arbitration services for the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. With its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO is one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations.

World Wide Web Consortium - (www.w3.org) Founded in 1994 to develop common standards for the World Wide Web. The w3 provides information for developers and users of the World Wide Web.

XML - see Extensible Markup Language

Zone File - The database in a DNS server that contains the translations between domain names and IP addresses. This file also contains information concerning timing and CNAME records. Typically, there are three zone files in a DNS server: (1) forward lookup (host (domain) name to IP address), (2) reverse lookup (IP addresses to host name) and (3) host name and IP address of the name server on the Internet that maintains the root domain.