Lexicon > Registrar

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Registrar

Domain name registrars are the service providers in charge of creating, renewing, transferring, changing the holder or deleting domain names.

They are accredited by the registration offices, in particular the AFNIC for French domains, to offer their domain name registration services in the domains concerned.

Registrars are obliged to respect their various registration contracts concluded with the registrars or risk losing their accreditation and no longer being able to market domain names in the extensions covered by the registration contracts concerned.

As such, in order to be accredited by the AFNIC and thus propose to register domain names in the “.fr” TLD, the registrar must in particular:

  • Master the principles and operating procedures of the Internet domain name system;
  • Master the materials and technical rules to perform the registrations with the office;
  • Implement a procedure for verifying the identification data provided by domain name applicants in order to respond, if necessary, to requests from the registry;
  • To have the human and technical resources necessary to ensure the updating of administrative and technical data provided by domain name applicants for their identification;
  • To have the necessary hardware and software to ensure the security of the personal data provided by the domain name applicants and to keep them in compliance with the provisions of the French Data Protection Act;
  • To provide adequate conditions for the reception of the public;
  • Justify that he/she is not acting under the control of the registry or a legal entity exercising control over the registry.

As part of their obligations, registrars must also participate in the creation and maintenance of WHOIS registries with the relevant registry.

Depending on its registration contracts, the registrar may be required to participate in administrative dispute resolution procedures offered by registrars for domain names registered by their services. For example, registrars accredited by the AFNIC must cooperate in SYRELI procedures, and registrars accredited by ICANN must cooperate in UDRP procedures.

The terms of domain name registration are also governed by the registry agreement between the registrar and the consumer.

Point of legislation

“The allocation of domain names is carried out by the registration offices, through the registrars. The exercise of their mission does not confer on the offices or registrars any intellectual property rights over domain names.

Registrars are accredited, according to non-discriminatory and transparent rules, by each of the registrars for each top-level domain concerned.

Registrars operate under the control of the registering office that accredited them.

Article L45-4 of the french Post and Electronic Communications Code

The Bouchara firm assists you in particular in :

  • Judicial and extra-judicial proceedings concerning domain names (SYRELI, UDRP, cnDRP, ukDRP…);
  • The strategization of domain names;
  • The registration of domain names;
  • Negotiation and redemption of domain names registered in confidence;
  • The implementation of backorders.