The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
is responsible for the systems that match domain names to web
pages. It has policies for what happens if a user forgets to
register a domain name and whether the person can make a claim for
names after that date has passed. This is called post-expiration
domain name recovery.
The review was ordered by ICANN"s At-Large Advisory Committee
(ALAC). "The ALAC request … alleges that current measures aimed at
recovering an expired domain name ‘have proven to be ineffective’,"
said a report on the issue late last year.
"The request asserts that ‘the loss of a domain name can cause
significant financial hardship to the registrant, and that harm can
increase with the time required to recover the name. Less concrete
harm in the form of damaged reputation and permanently lost
business is also relevant'," it said.
ICANN has now asked for public comments on how it could operate
the system with better results.
"To what extent should registrants be able to reclaim their
domain names after they expire? At issue is whether the current
policies on the renewal, transfer and deletion of expired domain
names are adequate," said its call for responses.
Currently if a domain name owner fails to renew an address it
enters an 'auto-renew grace period' of 45 days. The registrar
company through which the user bought the address can cancel it at
any time within that grace period.
Once the address has been deleted there begins a 30-day
redemption grace period. The address is put on hold for that time,
but no website will appear at it. That is designed to help people
realise that their address is in danger.
During that redemption grace period site owners can re-buy the
right to their name through their registrar company. If they do not
there then begins a five-day period when the name is waiting to be
deleted. It is then finally deleted.
ICANN's consultation asks: "whether adequate opportunity exists
for registrants to redeem their expired domain names; whether
expiration-related provisions in typical registration agreements
are clear and conspicuous enough; [and] whether adequate notice
exists to alert registrants of upcoming expirations."
The consultation asks "whether additional measures need to be
implemented to indicate that once a domain name enters the
Auto-Renew Grace Period, it has expired (e.g., hold status, a
notice on the site with a link to information on how to renew, or
other options to be determined); [and] whether to allow the
transfer of a domain name during the Redemption Grace Period
(RFP)".
A domain name which enters the redemption grace period can be
reclaimed by its previous owner. But it might never get there
because in the auto-renew grace period the registrar can sell the
domain name to someone else.
"This is one of the concerns expressed by ALAC; some domain
names never reach the RGP because their registrations are sold,
auctioned or transferred to another party which, the ALAC asserts,
cannot be prevented by the original registrant," said an ICANN
report on the issue late last year.
Some high profile domain name owners have been caught out by
slack re-registering. Microsoft's Hotmail email system was crippled
over Christmas in 1999 when it failed to register the domain name
passport.com, which played a role in authenticating users.
Open source software engineer Michael Chaney noticed the error
and bought the domain for Microsoft. It gave him $500 for his
troubles, a cheque which Chaney auctioned for charity.
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