I am looking at whois record for a domain to know who is the registrar of the domain. But the whois record has following line for registrar.
Sponsoring Registrar:Network Solutions, LLC (R63-LROR)
So what is sponsoring registrar and why it is used? I googled the term and found that it is something related to reseller domain but could not understand the concept.
The registrar that currently administrates the name on behalf of the registrant. If the domain name was registered by a reseller, the reseller's name will not appear in the Sponsoring Registrar field. Instead, you will see the reseller's registrar.
So say you bought your domain name through another company, but they use Namecheap for their registrar. The sponsoring registrar would be Namecheap.
Network Solutions, LLC
Its a ICANN accredits domain-name registrar # 2.
Network Solutions, LLC - 2013 - United States - .aero .asia .biz .cat .com .coop .info .jobs .mobi .museum .name .net .org .pro .tel .travel .xxx
NameCheap, Inc. 2013 United States .aero .asia .biz .cat .com .coop .info .jobs .mobi .museum .name .net .org .pro .tel .travel .xxx
ICANN accredits domain-name registrars More Info:
ICANN currently accredits domain-name registrars for the following Top Level Domains:
.aero, (reserved for the global aviation community) sponsored by Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA INC USA)
.asia, (reserved for the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific region) sponsored by DotAsia Organisation
.biz, (restricted to businesses), operated by NeuStar, Inc.
.cat, (reserved for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community), sponsored by Fundació puntCat.
.com, operated by VeriSign, Inc.
.coop, (reserved for cooperatives) sponsored by Dot Cooperation LLC
.info, operated by Afilias Limited
.jobs, (reserved for the human resource management community) sponsored by Employ Media LLC
.mobi, (reserved for consumers and providers of mobile products and services) sponsored by mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.
.museum, (restricted to museums and related persons), sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association International (MDI)
.name, (restricted to individuals), operated by Verisign Information Services, Inc.
.net, operated by VeriSign, Inc.
.org, operated by Public Interest Registry
.pro, (restricted to licensed professionals) operated by Registry Services Corporation (dba RegistryPro)
.tel, (reserved for individuals and businesses to store and manage their contact information in the DNS) sponsored by Telnic Limited
.travel, (reserved for entities whose primary area of activity is in the travel industry) sponsored by Tralliance Registry Management Company, LLC
.xxx, (reserved for online adult entertainment) sponsored by ICM Registry, LLC
The following companies have been accredited by ICANN to act as registrars in one or more TLDs. The version of RAA (Registrar Accreditation Agreement) indicated after each registrar name designates which contract they have signed with ICANN. The 2009 RAA indicates that the registrar has signed the 2009 Registrar Accreditation Agreement, which provides enhanced protections for registrants and an increased level of accountability for registrars. The 2001 RAA is an older contract with fewer protections. Prospective registrants may want to take this fact into account when selecting a registrar for their gTLD name(s). The RAA version is not an indication of how long the registrar has been ICANN accredited. You can view the 2009 RAA at http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra-agreement-21may09-en.htm
Source ref link : https://www.icann.org/registrar-reports/accredited-list.html
I believe this is a scam to steal domain names.
I have not heard of Offical ICANN registrar requirements for sponsor registrars:
If a domain is registered via a registrar that registrar shall maintain correct whois information or it is violating ICANN registrar requirements.
