What ICANN does
ICANN does not manage the content of websites; it keeps the internet's identifiers unique. Through the IANA function it maintains the DNS root zone, publishes the list of delegated TLDs and hands regional registries ranges of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. Its decisions follow a multistakeholder model involving communities, businesses and governments.
Domains and registrars
Several roles matter for the domain market:
- Registries — the operators of top-level zones work under a contract with ICANN.
- Registrars — only an accredited registrar may sell domains.
- Root servers — the root zone is published through the root servers, coordinated in part via ICANN.
It is ICANN's rules that decide how new top-level domains appear and on what terms domains are registered.
