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Omar Al-Ithawi
Asked: 2009-10-11 02:21:09 +0800 CST

How to be sure that a domain name is not already taken?

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I'm looking forward to register the domain in with the .IQ extension like (game.iq). But I wonder if those domains are all listed in the global WHO.IS services? The problem is this domain requires a special registering in Iraq (Yes, it's a the local domain extension for Iraq by the ICANN).
They want a registered company to make the domain registration (Country Rules), This only costs me about 2000 U.S.Dollars, And the domain reg. cost is: (200$/yr)
So I want to be sure about the domain before taking the risk of paying the money for nothing.

domain

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You can test it two ways. First, you can dig it. For example, I know cmc.iq exist - they own the ccTLD actually. So, if do on command prompt:

    dig @4.2.2.2 cmc.iq +short

    I get a reply:

    74.220.215.59

    The above command searches the zone file. If the domain does not exist then it won't get anything back from the above command. Also, keep in mind, domain registration has something called RGP - registration grace period- that happens when a domain expires (not in the zone file) but it is not available for other ppl to register, just in case, the owner of the domain wants to renew it. It is a sort of protection for someone who has forgotten to re-new his domain name.

    Another way to test is to directly search on registrars who do .iq registration, for example here:

    101domain registrar

    Type the domain in the textfield and it will tell you if it is available or not.

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  2. Most registrars provide some mechanism for checking before you purchase the domain. If the registrar you are looking to use does not, then you might want to look at a different company.

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