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Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become an ICANN accredited domain name registrar for all major TLDs earlier in November. Other large companies that have been approved by ICANN are Amazon (2003) and Google (2005).

Microsoft has been giving away free domain names with its Office Live service, but they registered all domains through Melbourne IT before. Now they can register all domains on their own, which will result in more control and flexibility. Also, Microsoft can now register domains at much lower prices ($6.25 for .com domains [$6 to VeriSign, $0.25 to ICANN]). Moreover, the company can now offer domain registration services and compete with other large domain registrars like GoDaddy.com and Enom.com. Microsoft has not yet undertaken any steps towards launching a commercial domain registration site though.