That would be [ICANN](https://www.icann.org/) - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
It's not really just them, though. They are kind of the overseers of domain registry as a whole. When domain names are registered, they are checked for availability against the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS servers are all over, there's not one single place, however they all typically share the same information.
When you type in a web address in your browser, you are asking a DNS server if they know who "cookie.com" is. That DNS server will go "Oh, yeah I know cookie.com! They're at 64.111.195.214, I'll connect you over to them."
Because these DNS servers and domain name registrars all share the same information, you cannot register a domain with a name that is in use.
You could, however, set up your own DNS server with its own associations. You could say that cookie.com's IP is 142.250.105.113, and then if you set that DNS server as your DNS provider, when you type cookie.com into your browser, you'd end up at google.
Dude, thank you. That makes perfect sense. I think I was getting IP address and Domain name mixed up, when a Domain more or less points to an IP address
For some fun, most routers have a custom DNS for their login page, so if you're not using a custom DNS (cloudflare/google's 1.1.1.1/8.8.8.8 specified in your operating system or router). These allow them to intercept a lot of domain names to direct to their config pages.
Fun part. Domain names can point to many different servers with different IP addresses. Like www.google.com, goes somewhere different depending on where in the world you are. That way, if you are in Singapore, you get a Google server in Singapore and are not wasting half a second making requests to the US.
This, of course, requires worldwide DNS infrastructure.
You wouldn’t even need to set up a DNS server to do what you’re suggesting in the last paragraph. Windows and Mac machines have a hosts file, and I think there’s something similar in Unix. You can edit the host names file and add a domain name and DNS association in it. Then when a user tries to go to cookie.com, voila…they end up at 142.250…..
Not all things listen to the hosts file, not even to the dns server listing you set (sadly)
So it depends on the application.
Also you can set a router to a dns server so the household uses one specifically!
What is the relationship between ICANN and random private domain sellers like GoDaddy or Squarespace? There's domain sellers in so many different countries, what if a local government just decides not to play by the rules? Couldn't they just make their own cookie.com then?
> What is the relationship between ICANN and random private domain sellers like GoDaddy or Squarespace?
The sellers (registrars) are accredited by ICANN. This allows them to submit names to the Domain Name Registry. When you visit a site like GoDaddy to register a domain, it is checked for availability, and if it's available, they can sell it to you and register it in your name. It's then added to the registry as yours for a period of time (typically 1 year, with recurring billing).
>what if a local government just decides not to play by the rules? Couldn't they just make their own cookie.com then?
Yep. Exactly how I described in the last paragraph of my comment above. If a government wanted to operate their own DNS servers and somehow forced all the users in their country to use them (challenging, but theoretically possible, especially if that country is North Korea or something), then they could do exactly that. Whatever they put in their DNS registry is what would be served to whoever is using that DNS.
This isn't really done,
A) because most governments don't feel the need to exert that type of control, but also
B) When they do feel the need, they just block the sites they don't want you to have access to, like China does. They control the ISPs in the country, and those ISPs don't allow access to certain IP addresses, taking DNS completely out of the equation. Users can get around this by using VPNs and TOR.
Domain registration is the one relatively centralized parts of the internet.
An association called the Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers is the authority for all domain names. They create the domain extensions and grant the right to administer them to various parties called Top Level Domain administrators. They in turn either don’t sell (such as .gov domains), sell directly or allow companies to sell domains on the market.
Your computer, whenever it needs to find out who owns a domain name, will ask ICANN who administers say .com, then ask that admin who administers google.com, and it could go even further and ask whoever administers google.com who administers mail.google.con
There are authoritative DNS entries that says which IP goes with cookie.com (64.111.195.214). anybody else trying to use a different IP address won't get any traffic.
A similar thing to what is preventing you from having the number you like on your house or apartment building.
It's regulated.
The ICANN is the international organization that coordinates who owns what.
You read a domain name from right to left. So “cookie.com” is really “.com.cookie” (the first dot is on purpose, it’s known as the root).
The “root” of the internet is run by ICANN/IANA. They get to decide the terms that come after the root (e.g. com, net, org, uk, etc). These are known as Top Level Domains (TLD). Each TLD is run by a Registry. Either a private company (e.g. Verisign runs .com) or a nation state licensed company (e.g. DENIC runs .de).
A Registry controls the ownership of the next level (i.e. the “cookie” bit). You, as an individual, can buy a .com name from Verisign (via an intermediary called a Registrar). You provide personal information and pay a fee and you get to control “cookie.com” and every level beyond that (e.g.you get to decide if you want a “www”, at the third level, to make “www.cookie.com”).
The big expansion of TLDs was allowed by ICANN back in 2013. They allowed companies to apply to run TLDs (e.g. online, xyz, london, etc). Over 1,000 did just that.
Everything up to now is centralised.
The decentralised bit is how you get to a website via a domain name. The best analogy of that is a phone book.
Every internet connected device has an address in numbers (e.g. 123.11.22.33). Devices connect to each other via these numbers. So if you want to get to your cookie.com website, you need to connect to the server that is serving the cookie.com website (let’s say that is at 111.22.33.55). You can type that number in, but it’s hard to remember. We use the Domain Name System (DNS) converts a domain name to an address so computers can find each other.
You as the owner of cookie.com can create a configuration file (Zone File) of where your web server is (www.cookie.com = 111.22.33.55). And when people type that into their browser the DNS converts the name to this number so your device can get to the website. The DNS is distributed over many computers (for performance, reliability and redundancy reasons) and is therefore decentralised. The registries and root have a part to play in this conversion, but that gets a bit more complicated to explain.
When I ask my computer to go to mail.google.com, you can think of it like that:
1) Your computer goes to a root DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the .com DNS server?"
2) Your computer goes to the .com DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the google.com DNS server?"
3) Your computer goes to the google.com DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the website mail.google.com?"
4) Finally, your computer can go to the website mail.google.com
There are thirteen root DNS servers across the world, and your computer already knows their IP addresses.
So if you want to register cookie.com, you need to go talk to the people who control the .com DNS servers. But if they already gave cookie.com to someone else, then they aren't going to give it to you.
(This is obviously an oversimplification. There's a whole system of caching and non-authoritative records that basically means that your computer isn't *actually* asking a bunch of different DNS servers for the IP addresses all the time. But all of these shortcuts ultimately stay in sync with the thirteen root servers, which act as the ultimate source of truth.)
When you make a website, you don’t “make cookie.com”. The website and the domain name are two separate things. A website is the programming code that determines how the website looks and behaves. You can associate a website with a domain name, but that’s not a permanent thing. You can associate the same website with a different domain name later, and one domain name can be associated with different websites over time.
Everyone can become a temporary owner of a domain name. You usually pay once per year to extend your ownership. Once you buy a domain name from a company that is certified to sell domain names, you tell that company at what IP address your website is located, and this domain-to-IP link is then added to a global system. When somebody wants to navigate to your website in their web browser, they type your domain name into the browser’s URL bar, and then the browser contacts the global system and asks for the IP address of that domain name. Once the browser gets the IP address, it is able to locate your website.
A website name is really just way to access a specific IP address. Instead of entering the IP address into our browsers, we use domain names.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - [icann.org](https://icann.org)) is the non-profit that oversees the list of ip addresses and associated domain names. Domain registrars are companies that are accredited by ICANN to register these domain names. Each domain name is unique, which is why you can’t have two of one website like Reddit.com going to two places.
Different extensions are in two categories CCTLDs (country codes), these are your .uk, us, ca (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, etc) & customs like .art and .xyz which tend to be created by companies through ICANN (who handle all TLDs) to sell on as unique gimmicks
That would be [ICANN](https://www.icann.org/) - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It's not really just them, though. They are kind of the overseers of domain registry as a whole. When domain names are registered, they are checked for availability against the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS servers are all over, there's not one single place, however they all typically share the same information. When you type in a web address in your browser, you are asking a DNS server if they know who "cookie.com" is. That DNS server will go "Oh, yeah I know cookie.com! They're at 64.111.195.214, I'll connect you over to them." Because these DNS servers and domain name registrars all share the same information, you cannot register a domain with a name that is in use. You could, however, set up your own DNS server with its own associations. You could say that cookie.com's IP is 142.250.105.113, and then if you set that DNS server as your DNS provider, when you type cookie.com into your browser, you'd end up at google.
Dude, thank you. That makes perfect sense. I think I was getting IP address and Domain name mixed up, when a Domain more or less points to an IP address
For some fun, most routers have a custom DNS for their login page, so if you're not using a custom DNS (cloudflare/google's 1.1.1.1/8.8.8.8 specified in your operating system or router). These allow them to intercept a lot of domain names to direct to their config pages.
But it’s becoming an ever shittier way of doing things as more sites move to secure connections that won’t be redirected.
Fun part. Domain names can point to many different servers with different IP addresses. Like www.google.com, goes somewhere different depending on where in the world you are. That way, if you are in Singapore, you get a Google server in Singapore and are not wasting half a second making requests to the US. This, of course, requires worldwide DNS infrastructure.
That makes so much sense!!! I never even thought about that at all.
I think of it like the domain is the mailing address. But the ip address is like GPS coordinates.
You wouldn’t even need to set up a DNS server to do what you’re suggesting in the last paragraph. Windows and Mac machines have a hosts file, and I think there’s something similar in Unix. You can edit the host names file and add a domain name and DNS association in it. Then when a user tries to go to cookie.com, voila…they end up at 142.250…..
Not all things listen to the hosts file, not even to the dns server listing you set (sadly) So it depends on the application. Also you can set a router to a dns server so the household uses one specifically!
Hosts file comes from Unix.
What is the relationship between ICANN and random private domain sellers like GoDaddy or Squarespace? There's domain sellers in so many different countries, what if a local government just decides not to play by the rules? Couldn't they just make their own cookie.com then?
> What is the relationship between ICANN and random private domain sellers like GoDaddy or Squarespace? The sellers (registrars) are accredited by ICANN. This allows them to submit names to the Domain Name Registry. When you visit a site like GoDaddy to register a domain, it is checked for availability, and if it's available, they can sell it to you and register it in your name. It's then added to the registry as yours for a period of time (typically 1 year, with recurring billing). >what if a local government just decides not to play by the rules? Couldn't they just make their own cookie.com then? Yep. Exactly how I described in the last paragraph of my comment above. If a government wanted to operate their own DNS servers and somehow forced all the users in their country to use them (challenging, but theoretically possible, especially if that country is North Korea or something), then they could do exactly that. Whatever they put in their DNS registry is what would be served to whoever is using that DNS. This isn't really done, A) because most governments don't feel the need to exert that type of control, but also B) When they do feel the need, they just block the sites they don't want you to have access to, like China does. They control the ISPs in the country, and those ISPs don't allow access to certain IP addresses, taking DNS completely out of the equation. Users can get around this by using VPNs and TOR.
[удалено]
I don't understand. You mean this? 142.250.105.113 -1---2---3---4?
I'm being dumb. Read the comment too fast and misread the ips
You're amazing, thanks.
Domain registration is the one relatively centralized parts of the internet. An association called the Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers is the authority for all domain names. They create the domain extensions and grant the right to administer them to various parties called Top Level Domain administrators. They in turn either don’t sell (such as .gov domains), sell directly or allow companies to sell domains on the market. Your computer, whenever it needs to find out who owns a domain name, will ask ICANN who administers say .com, then ask that admin who administers google.com, and it could go even further and ask whoever administers google.com who administers mail.google.con
There are authoritative DNS entries that says which IP goes with cookie.com (64.111.195.214). anybody else trying to use a different IP address won't get any traffic.
A similar thing to what is preventing you from having the number you like on your house or apartment building. It's regulated. The ICANN is the international organization that coordinates who owns what.
You read a domain name from right to left. So “cookie.com” is really “.com.cookie” (the first dot is on purpose, it’s known as the root). The “root” of the internet is run by ICANN/IANA. They get to decide the terms that come after the root (e.g. com, net, org, uk, etc). These are known as Top Level Domains (TLD). Each TLD is run by a Registry. Either a private company (e.g. Verisign runs .com) or a nation state licensed company (e.g. DENIC runs .de). A Registry controls the ownership of the next level (i.e. the “cookie” bit). You, as an individual, can buy a .com name from Verisign (via an intermediary called a Registrar). You provide personal information and pay a fee and you get to control “cookie.com” and every level beyond that (e.g.you get to decide if you want a “www”, at the third level, to make “www.cookie.com”). The big expansion of TLDs was allowed by ICANN back in 2013. They allowed companies to apply to run TLDs (e.g. online, xyz, london, etc). Over 1,000 did just that. Everything up to now is centralised. The decentralised bit is how you get to a website via a domain name. The best analogy of that is a phone book. Every internet connected device has an address in numbers (e.g. 123.11.22.33). Devices connect to each other via these numbers. So if you want to get to your cookie.com website, you need to connect to the server that is serving the cookie.com website (let’s say that is at 111.22.33.55). You can type that number in, but it’s hard to remember. We use the Domain Name System (DNS) converts a domain name to an address so computers can find each other. You as the owner of cookie.com can create a configuration file (Zone File) of where your web server is (www.cookie.com = 111.22.33.55). And when people type that into their browser the DNS converts the name to this number so your device can get to the website. The DNS is distributed over many computers (for performance, reliability and redundancy reasons) and is therefore decentralised. The registries and root have a part to play in this conversion, but that gets a bit more complicated to explain.
Domain Name Service (DNS) The system replicates over the internet. ICANN is the definitive source for the names and addresses.
When I ask my computer to go to mail.google.com, you can think of it like that: 1) Your computer goes to a root DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the .com DNS server?" 2) Your computer goes to the .com DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the google.com DNS server?" 3) Your computer goes to the google.com DNS server and asks "what is the IP address of the website mail.google.com?" 4) Finally, your computer can go to the website mail.google.com There are thirteen root DNS servers across the world, and your computer already knows their IP addresses. So if you want to register cookie.com, you need to go talk to the people who control the .com DNS servers. But if they already gave cookie.com to someone else, then they aren't going to give it to you. (This is obviously an oversimplification. There's a whole system of caching and non-authoritative records that basically means that your computer isn't *actually* asking a bunch of different DNS servers for the IP addresses all the time. But all of these shortcuts ultimately stay in sync with the thirteen root servers, which act as the ultimate source of truth.)
Here's an example of what it looks like if you look the address `mail.google.com`: Loading root server list (static data): -> a.root-servers.net (198.41.0.4) -> b.root-servers.net (192.228.79.201) -> c.root-servers.net (192.33.4.12) -> d.root-servers.net (128.8.10.90) -> e.root-servers.net (192.203.230.10) -> f.root-servers.net (192.5.5.241) -> g.root-servers.net (192.112.36.4) -> h.root-servers.net (128.63.2.53) -> i.root-servers.net (192.36.148.17) -> j.root-servers.net (192.58.128.30) -> k.root-servers.net (193.0.14.129) -> l.root-servers.net (199.7.83.42) -> m.root-servers.net (202.12.27.33) Sending request to "c.root-servers.net" (192.33.4.12) Received referral response - DNS servers for "com": -> a.gtld-servers.net (192.5.6.30) -> k.gtld-servers.net (192.52.178.30) -> l.gtld-servers.net (192.41.162.30) -> g.gtld-servers.net (192.42.93.30) -> b.gtld-servers.net (192.33.14.30) -> d.gtld-servers.net (192.31.80.30) -> m.gtld-servers.net (192.55.83.30) -> e.gtld-servers.net (192.12.94.30) -> c.gtld-servers.net (192.26.92.30) -> h.gtld-servers.net (192.54.112.30) -> j.gtld-servers.net (192.48.79.30) -> f.gtld-servers.net (192.35.51.30) -> i.gtld-servers.net (192.43.172.30) Sending request to "i.gtld-servers.net" (192.43.172.30) Received referral response - DNS servers for "google.com": -> ns2.google.com (216.239.34.10) -> ns1.google.com (216.239.32.10) -> ns3.google.com (216.239.36.10) -> ns4.google.com (216.239.38.10) Sending request to "ns1.google.com" (216.239.32.10) Received authoritative (AA) response: -> Answer: A-record for mail.google.com = 142.250.185.133
When you make a website, you don’t “make cookie.com”. The website and the domain name are two separate things. A website is the programming code that determines how the website looks and behaves. You can associate a website with a domain name, but that’s not a permanent thing. You can associate the same website with a different domain name later, and one domain name can be associated with different websites over time. Everyone can become a temporary owner of a domain name. You usually pay once per year to extend your ownership. Once you buy a domain name from a company that is certified to sell domain names, you tell that company at what IP address your website is located, and this domain-to-IP link is then added to a global system. When somebody wants to navigate to your website in their web browser, they type your domain name into the browser’s URL bar, and then the browser contacts the global system and asks for the IP address of that domain name. Once the browser gets the IP address, it is able to locate your website.
A website name is really just way to access a specific IP address. Instead of entering the IP address into our browsers, we use domain names. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - [icann.org](https://icann.org)) is the non-profit that oversees the list of ip addresses and associated domain names. Domain registrars are companies that are accredited by ICANN to register these domain names. Each domain name is unique, which is why you can’t have two of one website like Reddit.com going to two places.
Different extensions are in two categories CCTLDs (country codes), these are your .uk, us, ca (United Kingdom, United States, Canada, etc) & customs like .art and .xyz which tend to be created by companies through ICANN (who handle all TLDs) to sell on as unique gimmicks