Translations:Registrar/7/en
Background
NSI Cooperative Agreement & the SRS
From 1993 to 1998, Network Solutions (NSI) was the only Registrar and Registry Operator for the .com, .net and .org top level domain names (TLDs), based on a Cooperative Agreement between NSI and the National Science Foundation (NSF).[1] The Department of Commerce (DOC) extended and amended the Cooperative Agreement with NSI when the contract expired in 1998. Under the new Cooperative Agreement, NSI would continue to serve as a Registry Operator, but would implement a Shared Registry System (SRS) by June 1, 1999, meaning that multiple registrars could be accredited by a new non-profit organization that was to be created to take over the technical management of the DNS. Five new registrars were to be chosen by the new corporation to test the SRS.[2] The Agreement was modified twice in order to adjust the date of the deployment of the SRS from June 1 to June 25, 1999,[3] to include a registration fee for new domain names ($9 for one year and $18 for two years), and to include the Registrar License Agreement.[4]