• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Domain Industry & Internet News

Domain Industry & Internet News

Domain Name Industry News

  • Home
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submit News
  • Comment Policy
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / registrars / OpenSRS Celebrates 10 Years

OpenSRS Celebrates 10 Years

January 30, 2010 by Michele Neylon

It’s sometimes easy to forget that the domain industry is a relatively new sector.

Elliot Noss, CEO of Tucows, sent an open letter to all of OpenSRS’ resellers yesterday celebrating their ten years in business:

Hello,

With great pride I note that January marks the 10th anniversary of the first domain name registered through OpenSRS.

Back in the spring and summer of 1999, we started planning for a different way to sell domain names. We had two businesses at the time, the Tucows.com software libraries and a large Toronto ISP, Internet Direct.

We knew that domain names should be simple and inexpensive to sell, and were made much too difficult and expensive by the monopoly provider. We were confident that we could fix that.

We also knew something more important. With competition coming, the companies planning to launch were simply copying the monopoly and maybe dropping the price a little. Domain names would likely be offered from $35/year!

And we recognized that registrars didn’t sell domain names, service providers did.

We took those beliefs and poured them into a service offering that launched in January of 2000. It was an immediate success.

Now ten years later, and we still have our very first customer still happily and actively selling domains through OpenSRS. The first domain we sold is still managed by OpenSRS. And we’ve grown every single year.

So much is different now than it was then. The meaning of “service provider” has changed. In 2000, what we today know as web hosts were really just evolving out of the loam, forced into existence by telcos and cablecos killing dialup ISPs through regulation. Now the whole concept of the web host is morphing into something different, and, in many ways there may be a re-integration of “ISPs” and “web hosts”.

So much is the same as it was then. People still need a personal relationship to help them get the most out of the Internet. Too many people still don’t have one. There is still a huge gap between what people CAN do on the Internet and what they are ABLE to do.

Most importantly, we still view service providers as the greatest distribution channel in the Internet economy. We care deeply about our relationships with them and embrace the ones that care deeply about their relationships with their customers. So many of you are still around TEN YEARS LATER! You should be proud. I know I am.

Thanks to all our customers, employees and partners. We hope and expect that the next ten years will be even better!

Sincerely,

Elliot Noss
CEO Tucows Inc.

Where will they be in ten years time?

Filed Under: registrars, tucows Tagged With: Domain name, Elliot Noss, tucows

About Michele Neylon

Michele is founder and managing director of Irish domain registrar and hosting company Blacknight. Michele has been deeply involved in domain and internet policy discussions for more than a decade.
He also co-hosts the Technology.ie podcast.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

Nominet NED Nominations Open

ICANN Logo

ICANN Announces Locations for two Future Meetings

DNS Belgium logo

DNS Belgium Opens Call for Registrar Forum

ICANN Logo

ICANN 82 Seattle Full Schedule Available

RIPE Chair and Vice Chair Nominations Open

Recent Comments

  • Jim Davies Threatening Legal Action Against Nominet on Nominet Elections Candidates Announced
  • Paul on Nominet Elections Candidates Announced
  • Snail Mucin on Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
  • John Berryhill on Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
  • ICANN Gets First Female CEO on Centralnic Head Honcho Announces Immediate Retirement

Categories

Blogroll

  • Alex Bligh
  • Circle ID
  • Domain Incite
  • Domain Name News
  • Domain Name Wire
  • Jason Thompson

Blogs

  • Domain Gang
  • Stéphane Bortzmeyer

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Jim Davies Threatening Legal Action Against Nominet on Nominet Elections Candidates Announced
  • Paul on Nominet Elections Candidates Announced
  • Snail Mucin on Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
  • John Berryhill on Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
  • ICANN Gets First Female CEO on Centralnic Head Honcho Announces Immediate Retirement

Categories

Blogroll

  • Alex Bligh
  • Circle ID
  • Domain Incite
  • Domain Name News
  • Domain Name Wire
  • Jason Thompson
  • Nigel Roberts

Blogs

  • Domain Gang
  • Stéphane Bortzmeyer

Copyright © 2025 InternetNews.me