Agreements & Policies
The following agreements and policies govern a registrar's relationship with ICANN, the gTLD registry operators, registered name holders and the registrars' resellers:
- Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA): this is the contract between ICANN and the registrar that governs ICANN's relationship with an accredited registrar and the terms and conditions of maintaining an accreditation.
- Statement of Registrar Accreditation Policy: this explains the qualifications for becoming an ICANN-accredited registrar.
- Registry-Registrar Agreement: for each gTLD you plan to offer to your customers, you will have to enter into an agreement with the responsible registry. The content of the agreement varies from registry to registry. You should directly contact the registries for further information.
- Registration Agreement: every registrar shall require all registered name holders to enter into an electronic or paper registration agreement with the registrar. This agreement must comply with all the obligations and requirements established under the RAA. Every registrar is encouraged to consider whether their registration agreements are sufficient under the laws, rules, and regulations to which the registrar is subject. For example, a registration agreement that is based upon U.S. laws, rules, and regulations may not be the appropriate registration agreement for a registrar that does not conduct business within the U.S.
- Reseller Agreement (if applicable): every registrar that enters into an agreement with a reseller of services must ensure that the agreement includes the RAA provisions and consensus policies, and is consistent with all applicable RAA obligations.
- Consensus Policies: ICANN's agreements with accredited registrars and with gTLD registry operators require compliance with various specifically stated procedures and with "consensus policies" developed in consultation with the stakeholder community.
- Data Escrow Agreement: Under the data escrow provision of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), all ICANN-accredited registrars must regularly deposit a copy of certain gTLD registration data with ICANN's designated escrow agent or, to a reputable escrow agent mutually approved by the registrar and ICANN. The data shall be held under an agreement among the registrar, ICANN, and an ICANN-approved data escrow service provider. The registrar's obligation to begin depositing data will commence once it begins to register domain names.
- Model Privacy Policy: the model privacy policy assists registrars in preparing notice to its customers contemplated by Subsection 3.7.7.4 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement.