ICANN New Transfer Policy Is In Effect Starting December 1, 2016

Domain Transfers
With effect from December 1, 2016, ICANN started enforcing a new Transfer Policy that modifies the process of changing domain ownership from one registrant to another (known as a “Change of Registrant” in the new policy) (Section II.C).  The implementation of the policy is imposed on all registrars.  We have created this page to ensure that all Paknic customers completely understand the process introduced in this new policy.  We encourage you to review this policy update to familiarize yourself with all of the changes that are being made to the transfer policy.
 
What changes are considered to trigger "Change of Registrant"?
A Change of Registrant is defined as a material change to the registrant’s name (first or last), organization or email address, or the administrative contact’s email address if there is no registrant email address (Section II.A.1.1).
 
How will it impact Paknic customers?
In short, it can be summarized as follows:
  • It will no longer be possible to change the domain Registrant Contact Info with a simple domain contact modification request (either via API or domain management Control Panel).
  • Any changes made to first name, last name, organization or email address fields for the owner/registrant contact of any gTLD domain name will now start a trade process which involves:
    • Registrars must use a secure mechanism to confirm that both the Current Registrant and New Registrant have consented to a Change of Registrant (Section II.C.1.4).  The process involves obtaining explicit confirmation from the current and new domain registrants before a change can be completed.
    • After a change of registrant has been completed, previous and new registrant will receive a confirmation notice informing them that the change was completed.
    • After a change of registrant has been completed, the domain is locked for inter-registrar transfers for the following 60 days (Section II.C.2).
How does the new process at Paknic work?
  1. Process starts when a domain owner/registrant or reseller submits a request to modify the domain registrant contact info.
  2. Upon receiving the request, Paknic will send two emails, one to current registrant and second to the new registrant asking to approve or decline the Change of Registrant request.
  3. In order to complete the change, both contacts (current and new) must approve the change by clicking on the link provided in the emails.
  4. If no response received in 7 days, the change request will expire and, hence after, a new request must be submitted.
  5. Submitting multiple change requests for the same domain registrant contact will cancel the previous pending requests.  The latest request received will remain active for 7 days from the date when submitted.
  6. Once Paknic receives approval from the both contacts, the change will go in effect with 1 day and domain will be locked for transfer for the following 60 days.
When is it going into effect?
The new transfer policy is effective on December 1, 2016.
 
Frequently Asked Questions.
  1. Q: What does trigger this "Change of Registrant" process?
    A: Making any change to the first name, last name, organization name or email of the domain registrant contact will start the process. An approval email will go out to both the old and new registrants.
     
  2. Q: What happens if it’s not an actual transfer but minor updates or correction to the first name, last name, email or org/company name?
    A: At this time, any change (even entering a space) to any of those four fields will start the Change of Registrant process.
     
  3. Q: Who has to approve the change of registrant request?
    A: Both the new and the prior registrant need to approve the change of registrant request.
     
  4. Q: What if I am both the old and the new registrant?
    A: You will be required to approve the change of registrant request twice.
     
  5. Q: What happens if any one of the two registrants (current or new) does not approve the request?
    A: This will cancel the change request and domain WHOIS record will revert back showing the previous registrant’s info.
     
  6. Q: How long does the new registrant have to approve the request before it expires/times out?
    A: Seven days from the change request.
     
  7. Q: What happens if I submit another change of registrant request when one is currently pending?
    A: The first request will be cancelled.
     
  8. Q: What if I don’t have access to my old email address?
    A: We can explicitly send a link via SMS to the phone number you have in our system or in WHOIS record under registrant or admin contact. This will allow you to approve the change of registrant request.
     
  9. Q: What happens if the number is not a mobile phone number?
    A: We may be able to contact registrants at a land line phone number (additional charges may apply), otherwise, it is recommended to update the phone number field with a mobile number.
     
  10. Q: After a Change of Registrant is completed, is there any other impact or restriction(s) which I should know? 
    A: Yes, domain name will be locked for inter-registrar transfer for the period of 60 days.  If you have intention to transfer out domain name to another registrar, you should transfer the domain first, and then make the change to registrant contact.  Failure to do so will result in your domain being locked for 60 days. 
     
  11. Q: Is there anyway to opt out of the 60 day lock?
    A: Yes, you must submit a request to Paknic prior to making the changes to domain registrant contact. 
     
References:
 
 
Article ID: 2, , Modified: 10/3/2017 at 6:24 PM

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