ICANN 101

Welcome to the world of ICANN! If you are new, or even if you aren't, here are a list of important terms that you may need to know.

ICANN

Main article: ICANN

See also: ICANN Board, ICANN Staff, ICANN Meetings, ICANN Bodies

ICANN stands for the "Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers." It is a private, non-profit organization for the management of the Internet DNS, IP Addresses and autonomous system numbers, and the structures that underly them. It runs on an international, multi-stakeholder model.

DNS

Main article: DNS

See also: DNSSEC

The DNS, or Domain Name System, is the system that translates between alphanumeric domain names and IP Addresses.

Registry

Main article: Registry

Registries are responsible for managing

Registrar

Main article: Registrar

Registrant

A registrant is a person who has registered a domain name through a registrar.

TLD

Main article: TLD

A TLD, or Top Level Domain, is the last part of a domain name, for example: .com, .net, .org. The two most prominent types of TLDs are gTLDs and ccTLDs. Other types include the sTLD (Sponsored Top Level Domain).

gTLD

Main article: gTLD

A Generic Top Level Domain, or gTLD, is a TLD with three or more characters. .com, .net, and .org are all gTLDs.

ccTLD

Main article: ccTLD

A Country-Code Top Level Domain, or ccTLD, is a TLD with two characters, specifically designed for a particular country, sovereign state or autonomous territory. .uk, .de, and .cn are all examples of ccTLDs.

GNSO

Main article: GNSO

ccNSO

Main article: ccNSO

ASO

Main article: ASO

NomCom

Main article: Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee, or NomCom,

IP

Main article: Internet Protocol

See also: IPv4, IPv6