If You Would Like to Get Away From ICANN

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is sort of a strange bunch to deal with. If you would like to get a domain name totally free of charge in another country which is essentially anonymous (you do self registration) try one of these possibilities:

UNONIC (United Names Organization) http://unonic.com where you can register any domain name of your choice in the '.tf' top level.

or JOYNIC http://joynic.com where you can register domains in the name of your choice on the top level '.tt'

or CYDOTS http://cydots.com where you can register domains in the name of your choice in the top level '.ms'

or DHS International http://www.dhs.org where you can register domains in the name of your choice in the 'n3.net' top level and a few other top levels. These folks are based out of Australia
and do use 'American-looking' domain names i.e. '.n3.net' and they ask for a voluntary donation via Pay Pal.

or SMARTDOTS http://smartdots.com where you can register domains in the name of your choice in the top level '.tc'

All the above are self-service registration, meaning you do it from your own computer, picking the desired URLs and answering a few simple questions, set up the contact information truthfully, etc. Many of them also have email forwarding, and all of them simply redirect to your existingweb page elsewhere. The WHOIS information on many of them is totally confidential with only email of inquiry sent to you from the nosy person who is asking.

They are all totally free to use, they all cloak the true name of your web site by using frames and your alias URL name. They all last forever, require no contracts and except for DHS are totally free but they like it if you use a pop up or a banner they supply. In addition to the country codes mentioned 'tc' 'tf' 'tt' and 'ms' they all have a raft of second-level choices under them such as 'net' 'us' and others. I've had several of them over the years, for example, check out http://patricktownson.us.tf which will wind up bringing you right back here.

I hope this information is helpful to you especially if you do not like the ICANN contracts, prefer to be anonymous, etc.