The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has decided that further protection is needed for domain registrants, in the form of stricter rules and new forms of disciplinary action for ICANN-accredited registrars.

There are now over 900 ICANN-accredited domain registrars (the companies that register and sell Domain Names ). ICANN stated on Friday that the Registrar Accreditation Agreement is over six years old, and that as the current system stands, registrants can suffer serious consequences when domain registrars collapse.

Ever since RegisterFly was stripped of its registrar status in March 2007, Paul Twomey, CEO and president of ICANN, has been calling for a review of the accreditation process. The only circumstances under which ICANN can void an agreement with a registrar is if it finds that the registrar has breached that agreement. ICANN wants to add new registrar responsibilities and requirements to that agreement, and also wishes to include other measures short of agreement termination to deal with registrar problems.

ICANN is asking the public for ideas about how to modify the RAA.