GoDaddy founder, Bob Parsons.
Domain registrations that occurred during the early days of the Internet utilized the services of the sole registrant at the time, Network Solutions.
At least, as far as .com, .net and .org domains go; national registrars managed the ccTLD domains in the 1980s and during the 1990s.
Today, there are 2129 ICANN accredited registrars, according to the most recent list!
The biggest domain registrar in the world is GoDaddy, with more than 61 million domain names under management.
GoDaddy.com was registered on March 2nd, 1999, and the date barely predates the launch of additional registrars by ICANN.
In other words, the domain GoDaddy.com was most definitely registered on that date with Network Solutions.
On April 21st, 1999, ICANN announced the initial test-bed phase of the new competitive Shared Registry System for the .com, .net, and .org domains.
These new – at the time – registrars were:
- America Online
- CORE (Internet Council of Registrars)
- France Telecom/Oléane
- Melbourne IT
- register.com
According to a video with Bob Parsons as the guest, as an active registrar GoDaddy’s first domain registration was GhettoJustice.com, on November 3rd, 2000.
