Domain name transfers simplified from today

Similar to how telephone number portability works in many countries, enhanced domain name portability promises greater consumer and business choice, enabling domain name registrants to select the registrar that offers the best services and price.

The new policy also simplifies and standardises the process to prevent abuses and provide clearer user information about the transfer process and options. The policy was originally announced in July.

Central to the new policy and its efforts to provide strong protections against unauthorised transfers and to facilitate choice in domain name registration, all registrars are now required to use a clear standardised form of authorisation that provides for the express consent of the domain name registrant prior to the initiation of any transfer.

Other features of the new policy:

• Requiring registrars to verify the identity of the registrant or administrative contact requesting the transfer by one of a number of approved methods to deter fraud;
• Preserving the ability of registrants to "lock" their domains so they may not be transferred from the registrar, but requiring registrars to provide a readily accessible way for registrants to have their current registrar remove this lock at their request;
• Enabling registrants to transfer their domain names without having to "double-confirm" the transfer once the transfer has been reliably authenticated per the new policy; and
• Providing a robust dispute resolution process for resolving disputes between registrars, including registries implementing a "transfer undo" functionality to provide for efficiently reversing any transfer initiated in violation of the policy.

Through the new transfer policy implemented today, ICANN expects to expand the domain name user benefits of increased generic top level domain (gTLD) name market competition, including the separation of the registry and registrar functions, that have decreased domain name costs for consumers and businesses by up to 80%.