Most ICANN registrars are members of the Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG), their official representative body. Although membership is not compulsory for ICANN-accredited registrars, it does carry several advantages.

RrSG members have regular meetings with ICANN policy, compliance, finance and registrar liaison staff. They are able to vote to elect representatives on the GNSO Council, ICANN's policy-making body for generic Top Level Domains. They engage with Law Enforcement Agencies, registries and governments, while working on industry best practices and exchanging information to continually improve the service registrars provide to their customers.

With the recent events suffered by Japan, RrSG members are banding together to provide help where possible. See the following announcement below from the RrSG Executive Committee.

ICANN Registrars Provide Assistance to Registrants in Japan

Many ICANN-accredited registrars are implementing special emergency registration provisions to assist their customers who were impacted by the last week's earthquake and tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.  Special domain-related services include enhanced procedures for making changes to domain name DNS records, alternative hosting arrangements, and allowing automatic or emergency renewals of domain name registrations.

Implementation details vary, so affected registrants should contact their registrar directly to learn what special measures are being offered by registrars to protect customer domain names from accidental expiration or transfer.  Most registrars are providing extended support coverage and alternate customer contact methods to ensure that domain names continue to resolve and customer websites remain operational.