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%.
