ICANN conducted a sample audit of registrars to see if they comply with all the requirements of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). The result was deplorable: out of 55 registrars chosen for the audit not a single one passed it. 86% of the companies had at least three inconsistencies with the requirements of the RAA.
Requirements of ICANN related to verification of contact details of registrants are the biggest difficulty faced by the majority of registrars. In addition, over 50% of the companies, as it turned out, do not have 24/7 support line, which would be used to report violations related to the usage of domain names. Domain Incite reports that such big companies like Tucows, Register.com, 1&1, Google and Xin Net among others failed the audit. However, ICANN didn’t consider any of discovered deficiencies serious enough to terminate contracts with registrars. On the other hand, two out of 55 companies decided to self-terminate after the audit.
