I found it interesting that Ted mentions Namecheap searching .is. I have a .is domain through Isnic (actually just renewed yesterday), and I'm using 1984 for DNS because Isnic requires a domestic NS provider.

But Ted's comment implies you can register .is through Namecheap. I wonder how/if they get around the Icelandic NS host problem.

I believe that requirement ended. I had to get a different DNS at one point for my .is (registered in 2009) and I still maintain that account with DNSMadeEasy out of laziness), but when I helped a friend register a .is and when I got some additional ones more recently, I didn’t have to do that anymore.

I believe Namecheap offloads some of the info for .is back to ISNIC. The only reason I don’t do it under Namecheap is that I’ve had the ISNIC account for 11 years and it’s easy enough to get my annual email reminding me to renew, but I was able to get my friend’s registered through her Namecheap account without issue at the end of last year.

Thanks folks. I haven't had mine that long -- maybe since 2015 at the earliest. Must have changed shortly after I registered, since it seems that it changed some time ago. I'm certainly not an Isnic OG :)

I've had an .is domain for a few years now and wasn't aware of that requirement.

DNS service for my .is domain is handled by AWS Route 53.

I think that there was a time when a smaller number of DNS providers was registered with ISNIC. As the gTLD has become more popular, more DNS providers have gone through that process.

ISNIC doesn't require domestic NS providers. They do require the nameservers to register a contact though. https://www.isnic.is/en/domain/req#req-hosts

Yes, we support .is directly. There can be some quirks but we have a ton of happy registrants.