Actually, very few registries are under ICANN’s control. The generic TLDs are ICANN’s; the country code TLDs are not.
In all cases the mechanism is straightforward. When you check a domain’s availability the registrar queries the registry directly. (Each registrar enters into an agreement with each registry that they support; the registry issues credentials that allow the registrar to establish one or more persistent connections with the registry for transacting business.)
The protocol is registry-specific. While many registries are using the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), almost all have their own ‘take’ on which parts of this so-called standard they care to implement and ow to implement the protocol overall.
Registries come in two flavors: thick and thin. Thin registries, like .com/.net, don’t have any records regarding domain registrants or other contacts. It is incumbent upon the registrars to maintain that information and make it available via a WHOIS service. The thick registries, like .org, .eu, etc., maintain all of the contact information in the registry itself. While the registrars certainly have copies of their own data, registrations require the creation of contact objects in the registry and that those contact objects be associated with the domains registered.
Since all transactions go though the individual registries, they can be processed in real time on a first come, first served basis. When you check a domain’s availability, the results of that check are current as of that moment. When a domain is registered, it goes into the registry database immediately so that it’s no longer available for registration.
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