Revision as of 21:38, 14 November 2016

What is the New Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP)?

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) governs domain name transfers between ICANN registrars. The new provisions in the IRTP now specifically include changes to domain ownership (changes to the registrant). This means that any time a material change to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, or email address occurs, a sequence of confirmations, approvals, and possibly emails are now required for registrant information to be modified. Please keep in mind that now even small changes to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, organization, and email address may trigger the validation process. This new policy takes effect on December 1, 2016.

How does the New IRTP Work?

Whenever there is a material change to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, or email address, as well as, in some cases, administrative contact email (if there is no registrant email), confirmation must be provided by both the old registrant entity and the new registrant entity or a designated agent for the respective old or new registrant. Failure to provide confirmation from either party will cancel the change of registrant and all registrant information will remain that of the prior registrant.

Confirmation:

a. The old registrant or its respective designated agent confirms through a checkbox at the point of registrant change.

b. The new registrant or its respective designated agent confirms through a checkbox at the point of registrant change.

c. Old or new registrant or their respective designated agent can explicitly confirm through an email within fourteen (14) days sent by the registrar of record.

How does the New IRTP Work?

Registrants (old or new) can explicitly authorize an individual or entity to approve a change of registrant on their behalf. Though anyone or any entity can be a DA, explicit and verifiable authorization must be given. In practical terms, here are examples of a DA:

a. The registrar of record can be a DA (may be requested or via updated Registrant Agreement) for either the old and/or new registrant.

b. A reseller can be a DA (may be requested or via updated Registrant Agreement) for either the old and/or new registrant.

c. The new registrant can also be a DA for the old registrant (typically obtained from prior registrant before transfer of a domain to new registrant's registrar).

Other Confirmations, Locks, and Notifications

Once the registrant change has been completed successfully, both the old and new registrants are sent an email notice to confirm the changes. Additionally, the domain is locked and transferring to another registrar is not allowed for sixty (60) days in order to protect against domain theft. However, opting out of the sixty (60) day lock is possible:

a. Can be requested by the old registrant or their respective DA at the time of change of registrant request.

b. Can be requested by the new registrant or their respective DA at the time of confirmation, however, this will trigger an email to the old registrant, who then must accept opting out of the transfer lock by providing a securely generated code.

I am a Direct Customer and not a Reseller, how does this Policy affect me?

Starting December 1, 2016, it will no longer be possible to change the registrant of a domain name with a simple domain modification request. When making a material change to the registrant of a domain name, the following will occur:

1. If you are the old registrant only and you submit a material change of registrant through the Control Panel, an additional confirmation notice will be presented to you at the time of submission. You or your DA must confirm thechange of registrant as the old registrant. Additionally, you must also have explicit prior approval from the new registrant, effectively making you the DA of the new registrant. Therefore, submission without this prior approvalfrom the new registrant will automatically fail.
2. If you are the new registrant only (after a domain has been sold or transferred to you) and you submit a material change of registrant, an additional confirmation notice will be presented to you at submission. You or your DA must confirm the change of registrant as the new registrant. Also, if you have received explicit DA status from the old registrant, you can also confirm for the old registrant as well.
3. If you are both the old and new registrant, then you can provide confirmation for both registrants at the same time.
4. If you are a owner of a domain name (current registrant) for which a change of registrant submission has occurred, you may receive a change of registrant email. If you do not respond to this email within fourteen (14) days, the change of registrant request will expire and be cancelled.
5. Unless opt-ed out by the old registrant, a change of registrant will result in a sixty (60) day transfer lock when completed.
6. A material change of registrant for a domain contact handle involving one or more gTLD domain names will be reflected on the Control Panel only, but will not be submitted to the registry (whois data will not change).
7. If you receive a change of registrant confirmation email that you object to or were not expecting, please contact our support team immediately.

I am a Reseller, how does this Policy affect my business?

Starting December 1, 2016, it will no longer be possible for your customers to change the registrant of a domain name with a simple domain modification request. Depending on your reseller platform and how you are connected to us, you must implement the following:

1. Resellers must update their terms of service and registrant agreement to reflect the new IRTP before or on December 1, 2016.
2. Resellers must add additional terms to their registrant agreement allowing them to act as Designated Agents on behalf of their customers.
3. Resellers submitting material change of registrant requests as DA, upon request, shall provide verifiable documentation that they have obtained DA status from the respective registrant for a domain name.
4. Additonal affects on different types of resellers:

1. 1. Control Panel Resellers with Sub-user Customers. Whenever your customer evokes a material change of registrant, an additional confirmation notice will be presented to the sub-user at submission in the Control Panel, as described above in the "I am a Direct Customer and not a Reseller, how does this Policy affect me?" section.
   2. Control Panel Resellers Only. You have obtained verifiable DA status from them to act on behalf of the registrant of a domain name. This will allow the reseller to submit a change of registrant request for their customer in the Control Panel.
   3. Module Resellers (WHMCS, AWBS, Plesk). You have obtained verifiable DA status to act on behalf of the new registrant of a domain name. Since the various module platforms have not updated in response to the IRTP, you are required to do the following:

1. 1. 1. Login to the Control Panel and navigate to Manage Account > My Settings > Domain Settings. Under the "gTLD Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy" section first read the terms, implement the legal changes, and finally verify your Designated Agent status and your wish to alter the ModifyDomain command for IRTP compliance.
      2. Whenever your customer evokes a material change of registrant, the reseller must submit the change as the DA for the new registrant.
      3. The prior (old) registrant will always be sent a confirmation email, and they will have fourteen (14) days to confirm the change.
      4. The opt-out of the sixty (60) transfer lock is always enabled for module resellers.
   2. API Resellers. You have obtained verifiable DA status to act on behalf of the new registrant of a domain name. The registrant or the DA must have obtained prior approval to act on behalf of the new registrant, therefore, the reseller can then submit a TradeDomain command with the following three x-flag options:
      1. X-CONFIRM-DA-NEW-REGISTRANT = 1
      2. X-CONFIRM-DA-OLD-REGISTRANT = 0 or 1
      3. X-REQUEST-OPT-OUT-TRANSFERLOCK = 0 or 1
2. Your customers may receive a change of registrant confirmation email in which they will have fourteen (14) days to approve and complete the change of registrant. Failure to confirm a change of registrant within this time will invalidate the transaction.
3. A material change of registrant for a domain contact handle involving one or more gTLD domain names will be reflected on the Control Panel only, but will not be submitted to the registry (whois data will not change).
4. If your customers receive a change of registrant confirmation email that they were not expecting or have were not aware of, please contact our support team immediately.

ICANN has reviewed the policies that govern domain transfers in the gTLD and nTLD spaces and has come up with a new Transfer Policy which includes a new process: Registrant Transfer (Change of Registrant). This new Transfer Policy will become effective December 1, 2016. A change of registrant have to be requested with a TradeDomain command.

Following new parameters are created:
Designated Agent (DA) of the new registrant: X-CONFIRM-DA-NEW-REGISTRANT = 1
Designated Agent (DA) of the old registrant: X-CONFIRM-DA-OLD-REGISTRANT = 0 | 1

TRADEDOMAIN

[COMMAND]

COMMAND = TradeDomain
DOMAIN = <DOMAIN>

REQUIRED

OWNERCONTACT0 = <CONTACT>
X-CONFIRM-DA-NEW-REGISTRANT = 1
X-CONFIRM-DA-OLD-REGISTRANT = 1

[RESPONSE]

DESCRIPTION = Command completed successfully; realtime domain trade succeeded
CODE = 200

Information

STATUSDOMAIN

[COMMAND]

COMMAND = StatusDomain
DOMAIN = <DOMAIN>

[RESPONSE]

CODE = 200
DESCRIPTION = Command completed successfully
PROPERTY[STATUS][0] = ACTIVE
PROPERTY[STATUS][1] = clientTransferProhibited
...
PROPERTY[CURRENT-REGISTRANT-NAME][0] = ...
PROPERTY[CURRENT-REGISTRANT-ORGANIZATION][0] = ...
PROPERTY[CURRENT-REGISTRANT-EMAIL][0] = ...
...
PROPERTY[TRANSFERLOCK][0] = 1
PROPERTY[TRANSFERLOCK-EXPIRATIONDATE][0] = YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
PROPERTY[TRADE-TRANSFERLOCK-EXPIRATIONDATE][0] = YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
...

MODIFYDOMAIN

A removal of the transferlock via a ModifyDomain command is not possible for sixty (60) days after a successful change of registrant without the OPT-OUT option.

[COMMAND]

COMMAND = ModifyDomain
DOMAIN = <DOMAIN>
...

OPTIONAL

TRANSFERLOCK = 0

[RESPONSE]

CODE = 552
DESCRIPTION = Object status does not allow for operation; Change of Registrant TRANSFERLOCK in place until YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

TRADEDOMAIN with OPT-OUT

To avoid the sixty (60) day transferlock, you have the option to request the TradeDomain command with the additional parameter X-REQUEST-OPT-OUT-TRANSFERLOCK = 1. The activation of this parameter triggers an email. The old registrant will receive an email requesting the confirmation of the change of registrant. This email have to be approved within fourteen (14) days to complete the TRADE request and avoid the sixty (60) days transferlock.

[COMMAND]

COMMAND = TradeDomain
DOMAIN = <DOMAIN>

REQUIRED

OWNERCONTACT0 = P-ABC123
X-CONFIRM-DA-NEW-REGISTRANT = 1
X-REQUEST-OPT-OUT-TRANSFERLOCK = 1

OPTIONAL

X-CONFIRM-DA-OLD-REGISTRANT = 0

[RESPONSE]

DESCRIPTION = Command completed successfully; trade pending - non-real-time
CODE = 200
PENDING = 1