InterNIC

The Company InterNIC ( Internet Network Information Center ) was founded by three companies and the U.S. government (represented by the National Science Foundation) in 1993. Primary the InterNIC was responsible for the assignment and management of IP addresses, however, responsible for a large part of the services the founding companies involved, the Directory and Database Services went to AT & T, the registration services to Network Solutions, Inc. and Information Services at General Atomics / CERFnet.

In the late 1990s grew with increasing size of the Internet and the criticism of the concentration of the Web Management in InterNIC. Although as a commercial construct InterNIC acted ( bsw former domain 50 $ / year 1997:. .. .. Solely about 1,000,000 com domains registered, this then came still net, org, edu, and us), was the Member Network Solutions, not least because of the regarded as untouchable monopoly position as chief registrar of a free market service providers rarely anything noticeable. A domain registration could ever take 1-2 weeks. Also, the protection of the services has been questioned by experts frequently, culminating example, in the kidnapping of the domain www.internic.net by Eugene Kashpureff. As the pressure grew, was issued in 1998, a decision of the U.S. government after the duties of the InterNIC August 1999 to October 2000 gradually which was founded in October 1998, "Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN ) were transferred ( one newly founded non-profit organization ).

From InterNIC only the brand name and a web presence is left, which contains information about domain registration. Among other things, a Whois service are offered and lists the registrars of all Top Level Domains. Owner of the website ICANN.

The remaining brand name InterNIC is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Commerce, their use has also been licensed to ICANN.

In Germany there is a INTERNIC GmbH, which is not consistent with the actual InterNIC in context and fully self operates. That company was out of the data center operations of INTERNET AG.