vertical integration

When one company owns both a registry (glossary)registry The central database and system of a top-level domain, or loosely the organization that runs it. Full definition of registry and a registrar (glossary)registrar A company that registers domain names for customers with the registry. Full definition of registrar. ICANN (glossary)ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The nonprofit that coordinates the global DNS and gTLD policy. Full definition of ICANN once kept the two roles apart, but in 2010 the Board lifted the ban on cross-ownership for new gTLDs (glossary)new gTLD A generic top-level domain added to the internet through ICANN's New gTLD Program. Full definition of new gTLD. Rules still require a registry to treat all registrars equally. Some older contracts keep limits.