Issue 169 - 12th November 2004

Change to registrar transfer process

From 12th November 2004, a new transfer of registrar policy comes into effect for all gTLDs (generic Top Level Domain - com, net, org, biz etc). The existing procedure has been refined in order to make transfers between registrars smoother. Note - this has no bearing on the ownership of a domain name.

The fundamental rule is that the gaining registrar is responsible for obtaining express authorisation from the registrant (owner) for the transfer of a domain. As previously, the losing registrar will still be permitted to notify the registrant about a transfer request but they will no longer be allowed to reject a transfer on the basis that the registrant did not respond to their notice.

These changes should actually make the transfer process easier for the customer, whilst placing the responsibility for good practice on the gaining registrar. It was generally felt that some losing registrars often used the authorisation process to block the move of their customer to a competitor, citing security as justification. This only highlights the importance of always dealing with an ICANN-accredited registrar.

.de operator in running for .net

It was recently reported in online media that Denic, the registry operator for the German .de domain, will join the bidding to run the .net domain after VeriSign, whose contract ends in next June.

It would appear that Denic is well qualified to run a domain of .net's size (approximately 4.8 registrations), as it currently manages just over 8 million .de domains.

.mp Whois data to be kept private

Saipan DataCom Inc., the registry for the .mp domain which is currently in sunrise period, recently announced that they will limit access to.mp Whois data, thus providing customers with privacy. .mp Whois data will be available only to those providing documentation indicating rights to a particular .mp domain name. This is in contrast to the majority of Whois outputs, which publicly display contact details for the registrant. Saipan DataCom's president, Gib Bintliff, stated that the policy was intended to protect the indentity of registrants.

NetNames advises a standardised and considered policy with regard to the submission of contact details to registries. As much as possible, generic rather than personal addresses should be used. However, variation between the requirements of different registries (particularly some country-code TLDs) can occasionally make the process challenging. Platinum Service customers should always consult with their Account Manager over such questions.