This month we emailed .in domain holders with an unusual request. We asked our customers to please migrate those domains away from SiteHost.
We wouldn’t normally blog about something that only affects a handful of customers, and it’s a bit strange to get loud about why people should not choose SiteHost. This article is less about Indian domains, more about the fact that there are a lot of TLDs out there, and no-one can specialise in all of them. That implies two lessons:
As a domain owner, it’s smart to match your domain supplier to each TLD you’re looking at.
Every retailer has to balance the range of domains they offer against the risk of spreading themselves too thin.
In our case, the namespaces that matter most to our customers attract our energy and attention, for example .nz, .au, .com and .org. In these cases, we’re an accredited registrar. That puts us in the minority of retailers that connect directly to the TLD’s registry (technical centre), and who are in full compliance with the regulator (rulemaker). It also proves that we’re a supplier who cares deeply about these TLDs.
The approvals that we received from NZ’s Domain Name Commission in 2006, USA’s ICANN in 2024, and now auDA in Australia, took years of work. Each accreditation takes real commitment, as you can tell from the fact that we first mentioned “upcoming” ICANN accreditation more than two years before it was finalised.
This is more than can be said for even some of the biggest names in hosting. GoDaddy, for example, is not DNC accredited for .nz domains. We have put in time and energy that they have not.
Regulators gonna regulate
Just like New Zealand isn’t a priority for GoDaddy, the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has never been high on our radar. But they got our attention when they tightened .in regulations, adding “know your customer” (KYC) rules and requiring domain holders to have an acceptable Indian connection.
Regulators regulate as they see fit. That’s as it should be, and we have no complaints (even if we sometimes dream of a world where every registry is perfectly aligned). KYC is common enough in domains, and in fact Australia is another place where you need a connection to the country in order to register domains. These rules are about capturing, validating and storing data, so they entail technical requirements. This affects how retailers handle registrations and renewals as well as what they submit to the registry.
So why comply with one set of local-ownership rules but not another? Down here in the bottom right-hand corner of the world map, it makes sense to do the work for Australian customers. But Indian domains are much less popular so we can’t justify the effort, especially as a reseller. Our systems were connected to another supplier who we relied on for our connection up to NIXI, which added technical complications.
It’s worth noting that there are hundreds of different TLDs, including over 300 country codes, each with their own rules. Domain suppliers have to balance the number of domains they offer, the amount of compliance work that they can undertake, and how well they serve customers.
Accredited registrars are committed suppliers
Let’s finish with some blunt advice, especially if your domains are mission critical or when looking at a TLD with heavier regulations:
Trust registrars over resellers. Don’t pick GoDaddy for .nz domains. Don’t pick SiteHost for .us or .in domains. Do pick SiteHost for .nz, .au, .com, and .org domains.
You can expect accredited registrars to be more robust, more aware of any upcoming changes from regulators or registries, and more likely to cater to them. All up, that’s a safer long-term option. If that means splitting your portfolio across suppliers, then it’s worth considering.
For an example of this benefit in action, go back to 2022 and the introduction of a new .NZ registry system. This required technical work from registrars, including us. In a reversal of today's .in situation, we acquired customers from another supplier who couldn’t justify the expense.
When requirements change, registrars are invested enough in the namespace to keep up. There’s no chance of a rug-pull from a middleman reseller. The supply chain is shorter and simpler.
We apologise to the small number of customers who have had to move .in domains away from us. The positive flipside is that in the namespaces that matter most to our customers we are here for the long term, and for your next domain search or transfer.