Puget Sound Network, Inc. Domain Registration Services
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Registration FAQ
  1. What is a domain name?
  2. What can I put in a domain name?
  3. Can I get a refund?
  4. What is parking?
  5. After I've found a name, what's involved in getting my domain name?
  6. Once I have registered a domain name, how can I make changes to it?
  7. What's the difference between an PSNI registered domain name and a Network Solutions (NSI)registered domain name?
  8. I forgot my login name and password.
  9. Who does a registered name actually belong to, the end user or the Registration Service Provider?
  10. How much control do domain owners have over their domain once they've signed up through PSNI?
  11. What's the difference between .com, .net, .org domain names?
  12. Registry? Registrar? Registrant? What do these words mean?
  13. Does PSNI register in any other top level domains (.ca, .us, .co, .uk, etc.)?
  14. I have a question that is not listed here. How can I get my question answered?

Registration Answers
  1. What is a domain name?
    A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet. Every website you've ever been to, and every email you've ever composed, has used a domain name in its address. People register domain names in order to 'stake a claim' to a particular name -- whether for business or personal reasons. Once a domain name is registered to a person or company, it is that person's to use exclusively as long as they continue to pay the yearly renewal fee. Our domain name is psni.com, and we also own psni.net and raincity.com

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  2. What can I put in a domain name?
    Letters and numbers are always valid characters in a domain name. Hyphens may also be used, but may not begin nor end your domain name. Spaces and special characters, such as exclamation points (!) and underscores (_), are never permitted in domain names. A domain name can be can be up to 67 characters long including the four characters used to identify the top-level domain .COM, .NET, .ORG.

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  3. Can I get a refund?
    No. Once you register a name your payment was used to pay for the resources that were used to complete your registration.

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  4. What is parking?
    Parking is the term used when you do not have a server to host your web site for the domain you want to register. You would "park" your new domain on our server until you decide on a final hosting service. Anyone going to your new domain that is parked would see a single web page showing the name of the domain along with contact information.

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  5. After I've found a name, what's involved in getting my domain name?
    Once you have found a name you should verify no one else has registered it. You can verify it has not been registered by doing a search. Our search feature will let you know if it is available. Once you have verified your domain name is available you can initiate the registration process from the same page that produced the search results. After you complete that process you will be notified by e-mail that your domain name registration has been received. Once your request has been received by PSNI, your credit card has been processed, your domain name request will be processed through our registrar account and then the domain will be officially registered to you. This process can generally be completed within one business day depending on the time of day that you submitted your request.

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  6. Once I have a domain name, how can I make changes to it?
    You can make changes to your domain name by using the PSNI domain management interface at: http://domains.psni.com. Remember you'll need your domain's account username and password to login and make the desired changes.

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  7. What's the difference between a PSNI registered domain name and a Network Solutions (NSI) registered domain name?
    There's no difference between a name registered with PSNI and a name registered with Network Solutions. Network Solutions is currently better known because they ran the first domain registration business without competition for a number of years.

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  8. I forgot my login name and password.
    Your login name and password (used to make modifications to your domain name record) can be obtained from your Registration Service Provider.

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  9. Who does a registered name actually belong to, the end user or the Registration Service Provider?
    Domain names are not truly owned -- they're leased out on a first-come, first-served basis, and remain with the initial lessee until either a) the lessee does not renew the name, or b) a business with a trademark of the same name demonstrates a greater claim to the name than the lessee can demonstrate. The question is better phrased as 'who can control the domain name'. The answer is the domain's Administrative Contact.

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  10. How much control do domain owners have over their domain?
    Domain owners, in general, have full control over their OpenSRS registered domain names. This means that the domain owner has the power to:
    a) Change admin/technical and billing contacts for the domain.
    b) Change ownership of the domain.
    c) Change the nameservers that are authoritative for the domain.
    d) Create sub-users and enable them to change some/all of the options in a, b and c above.
    e) Change the password that enables a, b, c, and d above.

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  11. What's the difference between .com, .net, .org domain names?
    Originally, the three letter extensions after the dot (or Top Level Domain/TLD) were meant to denote whether the domain name was being used for business (.com) charity/non-profit (.org) or for a technology based company (.net). However, with the explosion of the Internet (and specifically, the world wide web) as a new business medium, the lines were blurred, and companies and individuals alike started cross-registering domains (ie. Me.com, me.net, me.org) just to protect their interests. Now, .com, .net, and .org names (the generic Top Level Domains) can be used for any purpose.

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  12. Registry? Registrar? Register Service Provider? Registrant? What do these words mean?

    Registry: The 'Registry' is the backend (Internic) that registrar's have shared access to. Each registrar (OpenSRS/Tucows) writes new names to a central registry database, from which the authoritative root (essentially, a table of all domain names on the Internet) is built.
    Registrar: A "Registrar" (or "Domain Name Registrar") is an organization like OpenSRS or Network Solutions that has control over the granting of domains within certain TLDs (top level domains, like the generic .com/.org/.net or country-specific .ca/.us/.mx etc.).
    Register Service Provider: A "Register Service Provider" is an organization like PSNI that provides the interface to allow customers to register domain names. Register Service Providers interfaces with customers.
    Registrant: A registrant is the person or company who purchases a domain name. For example, Jessica Smith (registrant) registers the name jessicasmith.com through PSNI (Register Service Provider) who in turn proceeses the request through it's Registrar, OpenSRS, which in turns writes the name to the central database (Registry).

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  13. Does PSNI register in any other top level domains (.ca, .us, .co, .uk, etc.)?
    Currently, PSNI doesn't register top level domains beyond the .com, .net, and .org specifications, but we're working towards offering registrations in various country code top level domains (ccTLDs) in the near future.

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  14. I have a question that is not listed here. How can I get my question answered?
    Please send e-mail to hostmaster@psni.net or call PSNI at (206) 217-0400 or (800) 599-9485

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