ICANN new transfer policies take effect Nov. 12

[Dave Zan]

Hi everyone!

Whenever I get any domain name news that can potentially
affect ALL domain name owners, I'll be sure to post it.

Some of you may or may not know by now, but the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the
governing body charged with overseeing the Domain Name
System, has formulated new domain name transfer policies
that will take effect on November 12, 2004:

http://icann.org/transfers/index.html

So what does this mean?

First, the good news: it makes domain name transfers
simple and painless because you actually don't even HAVE
to confirm it anymore!

All you have to do is go to the new registrar/reseller of
your choice, follow their instructions on how to create
an account with them (be it online for via fax), pay up,
then the new registrar/reseller will notify your current
one of the impending transfer.

Ideally, the new one will send an authorization email to
the email address of the administrative contact based on
the domain name's WHOIS record. Whoever has access to
that email must either confirm or deny the request.

But here's the change: whether you receive it or not,
the default result is that the registrar or reseller MUST
release the domain name from their systems & transfer it
to the new one.

Standard exceptions still apply, though:

1. Domain must still be paid. Better you do this at least
30 days before expiration.
2. Domain must not be "locked".
3. Domain must not be in any sort of dispute.

Assuming at least those 3 exceptions don't apply to your
domain name, your transfer will push thru without a hitch.
Barring any technical hiccups, of course.

Now, the bad news: just as it will become easier to move
your domain name to your new registrar, it becomes easier
for one total unknown stranger to do this without your
consent.

So what must you do to prevent this from happening?

1. Contact your registrar or reseller and ask if they have
a sort of locking feature that prevents domain transfers
from taking place. Most if not all registrars provide this.

If they do, you must log inside your account and activate
it yourself. A friend of mine, though, notified me she
recently got an email from her domain registrar that they
will turn on their locks for all domains on a certain date,
so be sure to read any email from your current registrar
or reseller regarding this.

2. If your domain name doesn't have this lock, check your
domain name's WHOIS contact information (or internal info)
& ensure the email address w/in is correct & only you has
access to it. This is to ensure you receive the email and
follow its instructions on how to deny the transfer.

3. Since ISPs sometimes block legitimate emails from
reaching their recipients, be sure to "whitelist" them. If
necessary, please contact your registrar or reseller and
ask what is their specific email address that'll be sent
to you requesting confirmation or denial of the transfer.

I'll keep you all posted as the date when the transfer
policies takes effect looms near. Meanwhile, please be
sure to inform as many people as you can about this to
prepare for it.

Take care of your domain name/s!

 

[Theo]

This is ridiculous.

Consider a scenario where:

A stolen CC is used to open & pay for an account with a registrar and request transfer of domain abc123.com to that registrar.

According to this, the transfer will go through with no intervention from the domain owner???

 

[Dave Zan]

This is ridiculous.

Consider a scenario where:

A stolen CC is used to open & pay for an account with a registrar and request transfer of domain abc123.com to that registrar.

According to this, the transfer will go through with no intervention from the domain owner???

Hi Radistar!

"I actually replied to this in WHT but here's a copy of it:

Unfortunately, that's the case. The registrant or admin
contact doesn't have to do anything to ensure the
transfer goes thru.

That's why it's important for every domain name owner
to ensure their domain's locking feature (if they have
one) is turned on; that if they don't have any, at least
to ensure they do get the authorization email and
follow its intructions to reject it.

The best we can do right now is to inform and educate
the people we know. So be sure to spread word!

You can copy my words here to save you the trouble of
composing your warnings."

Just spread the word. It's the least we can do.

 

[David G]

Great News and it's about time!

Big problem is I have some names expiring befor Nov which I am unable to transfer or control due to them being locked without my consent and also unable to unlock, or registrar refusal to give trans away auth codes. Will transfer auth codes still be required?

That may continue past Nov if they continue to lock names and make it next to impossible to unlock them. Even places where the name is NOT locked automatically deny all valid transfer attempts, i.e. Moniker, without the express personal approval of the firms owner. I wonder if that will continue after Nov?

 

[Dave Zan]

Great News and it's about time!

Big problem is I have some names expiring befor Nov which I am unable to transfer or control due to them being locked without my consent and also unable to unlock, or registrar refusal to give trans away auth codes. Will transfer auth codes still be required?

Can you give one as an example? If the people at your registrar are
"good", they probably won't give you because they're unable to
verify you as the registrant or admin contact of the domain name/s.

You first need to be able to gain access to your account so you can
unlock those domain names. And yes, you also need to get their
respective auth codes if they're .INFO/.ORG/.BIZ/.US.

To that end, you need to contact your registrar or reseller & ask how
to be able to access those accounts again & heed their requirements
no matter how inconvenient it may be.

That may continue past Nov if they continue to lock names and make it next to impossible to unlock them. Even places where the name is NOT locked automatically deny all valid transfer attempts, i.e. Moniker, without the express personal approval of the firms owner. I wonder if that will continue after Nov?

After Nov. 12, yes the transfers will push thru even w/o express
approval. Refer to the minimum restrictions I posted above.

Just keep me posted or PM me. Let's see if we can figure out a way
to get your domain names out of there.

Good luck!

 

[Monte]

Realnames,

What is it that you do not understand about Moniker.com's transfer out policy? Not only have we been over this issue over and over and over about your refusal to follow our transfer out policy (which is clearly stated in our service agreement), Most all forum members here not only understand our policy, they appreciate the fact that I and my staff personally review the transfer out logs every day to make sure names are not stolen. We have now prevented 367 domain theft attempts since January, protecting the assets of more than 41 different customers.

By simply sending an email from the admin email of record to [email protected] prior to your transfer request, your name is then approved to transfer out of our registrar.

Please stop making false statements, you just continue to loose credibility as many forum members understand and follow our security process on a daily basis.

For the record on the new transfer out policy, please note the following:

The new policy states that it is the responsibility of the "gaining" registrar to verify the validity of the transfer request. In our current system we do this by sending a confirmation code to the registrant email address in the "whois" output for the domain.

The "losing" registrar can still request a confirmation of the request with the current domain owner, who in turn can ACK or NACK the request using the interface available in our site. The new policy is very specific in regards to who is authorized to explicitly ACK or NACK transfer requests (the domain registrant and the domain admin contact).

The main difference with this policy is that we now have to have an "ACK by default" policy - with exeptions listed below.

The events on which the "losing" registrar can NACK a request are:

Evidence of fraud (suspicion can work as well)

UDRP action

Court order by a court of competent jurisdiction

Reasonable dispute over the identity of the Registered
Name Holder or Administrative Contact

No payment for previous registration period (including credit card charge-backs) if the domain name is past its expiration date or for previous or current registration periods if the domain name has not yet expired. In all such cases, however, the domain name must be put into "Registrar Hold" status by the Registrar of Record prior to the denial of transfer.

Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. - email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means)

A domain name was already in “lock status” provided that the Registrar provides a readily accessible and reasonable means for the Registered Name Holder to remove the lock status.

A domain name is in the first 60 days of an initial registration period.

A domain name is within 60 days (or a lesser period to be determined) after being transferred (apart from being transferred back to the original Registrar in cases where both Registrars so agree and/or where a decision in the dispute resolution process so directs).

Additionally, there are specific forms and templates that have to be used during the communication process which will be set up in our system.

In conclusion, Moniker.com can still use our transfer-out system to notify and provide "explicit command access" to our customers.

I hope this helps everyone understand how this will work come November.

My advice, move your names to Moniker.com and lock them down!

Let me know how I can help - [email protected]

 

[David G]

Monte, what false statements? I never agreed to give you control over my names in the first place and never agreed to your policies. Pool.com (from what I recall) forced me to use Moniker when they grabbed some names for me and reg'd them there. I had no choice.

My name is NOT locked so how can you deny all my transfer attempts for the past several mos? Each transfer try costs me lots of lost time, hassle and also money as my new registrar wants payment for the transfer first and does not automatically give refunds upon failure.

That means I may have lost money (and lots of hassle and lost time which I can never get back of course) as sometimes I may 'forget' to apply for the refunds, or have difficulty figuring out the old billings done and dates. Please tell me by what authority are you operating under which allows for automatic rejection of unlocked name transfers away?

 

[Theo]

I had to transfer a domain from Moniker to Enom - a 2-letter .net - and I had to call and speak with a rep there to authorize the transfer out. I think that's a good security add-on if you plan to lock the domain down.

 

[David G]

I had to transfer a domain from Moniker to Enom - a 2-letter .net - and I had to call and speak with a rep there to authorize the transfer out. I think that's a good security add-on if you plan to lock the domain down.

Theo, do you really think that transfer denials should be done on unlocked names? If so what is the purpose of the lock/unlock function? I agree with the extra process and lockdown on locked names but certainly not if the owner decides to not lock them or unlocks them just before the transfer attempt.

 

[Monte]

Realnames,

As usual, you are the super minority in your opinion and grossly exaggerating how we handle this process. You see so many people disagreeing with you over and over and you bring up the points again and again in various threads as if you did not read anything.

Moniker never had control of your domains....you did. You may not have chosen Moniker to have your names but you do know and have known that we use Pool to help our customers capture drop names. We certainly are not going to change our security policy to accommodate you because you think by simply unlocking a domain, that it sets a rule that a transfer out request is OK. You see that none of our customers and even those that do move their names out want that risk...why should you?

Send a message from the admin email and your issue is addressed. Do you understand simplicity? Just follow the program or don't use drop services. I would be interested to see how many names you have stuck at registrars that are not even operating businesses and are solely in business to capture your domains and your money??? I guess you never used Totalnic or ItsYourDomain who both literally hold names hostage.

Can you ever pick up the phone and speak to their CEO or even speak to a person there if you have an issue.....?

Think about it. At least I am here AND responding to your issue, even though you continuously repeat yourself as if we are taking control of your life by implementing a security policy that has worked 367 times this year alone!

 

[Theo]

Theo, do you really think that transfer denials should be done on unlocked names? If so what is the purpose of the lock/unlock function? I agree with the extra process and lockdown on locked names but certainly not if the owner decides to not lock them or unlocks them just before the transfer attempt.

Generally speaking, I like a combination of ease of use/flexibility and security. I understand that if your daily routine is busy as you described, having to further communicate with the Registrar to unlock or transfer domains might be counter-productive. However, how many domains are we talking about? My experience of Moniker was that of a single name. I've had several very frustrating moments with other Pool registrars that operate in countries outside the US (and one in California) where it took weeks to unlock a domain for transfer.

With Moniker, I was surprised that they had that extra layer of security in place (phonecall) and I was / am considering Moniker for "locking down" domains you simply don't want to lose "NetSol style".

 

[Dave Zan]

Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. - email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means)

Hi Monte! (Hope I got your name right :cheesy: )

Are you able to clarify that portion above from ICANN? I actually
have some questions (and more) about their new transfer policies.

For instance, if the registrant or admin contact (depending on
the registrar's discretion) receives the authorization email, has
instructions to click on a secure link to confirm or deny, the
contact clicks on the link to deny it but keeps getting a page
error, does that portion mean the contact can instead send
an email or a fax requesting the transfer be denied as soon as
they send it to the registrar?

I guess we all have tons of questions to ask for clarification. :-D

Realnames, given there are now 2 sides to the issue you gave,
why not take up Monte's offer? At least he's offering help w/c
I don't see the bigger registrars doing via these forums.

 

[bidawinner]

POOL and Moniker.. made for each other

 

[Monte]

bidawiner! Welcome back. Hopefully the time off helped you gather your thoughts and relax. Want to clear the slate and start over? That's my offer to you - to have a fresh start.

Davezan1 - I would be happy to answer as many questions about the new policy that I can. If you would give me a call next week as we are beginning preparations for yet another hurricane heading our way, I will block out some time to speak with you - 800.846.7686.

thanks,

 

[jberryhill]

I have no opinion on the particular problem of the Moniker registrant in this thread. I will say that I sometimes hold high-value domain names in escrow, subject to time-structured transfer agreements. After the term of an agreement has expired, those domains are to be transferred elsewhere. I usually use Moniker as the registrar for those situations because, simply, when I want the domain names to stay put, they do, and when I want the domain names to be transferred, they are.

 

[bidawinner]

I have no opinion on the particular problem of the Moniker registrant in this thread. I will say that I sometimes hold high-value domain names in escrow, subject to time-structured transfer agreements. After the term of an agreement has expired, those domains are to be transferred elsewhere. I usually use Moniker as the registrar for those situations because, simply, when I want the domain names to stay put, they do, and when I want the domain names to be transferred, they are.

And that is the perfect use for Moniker..but that's NOT what most domainers need..they need and want to be able to move quickly without hassles..
yes, if you need your names locked tight and dont mind the hassles of being frisked everytime you want to move your names.. then by all means monkier is the place.

bidawiner! Welcome back. Hopefully the time off helped you gather your thoughts and relax. Want to clear the slate and start over? That's my offer to you - to have a fresh start.

Here's my offer Monte..BITE ME :cheeky:

Hopefullly you'll quit taking it so personal that a lot of people simply dont want to do business with you

 

[David G]

Realnames,...Please stop making false statements, you just continue to loose credibility....As usual, you are the super minority in your opinion and grossly exaggerating how we handle this process..... Next Post from Monte ....You see so many people disagreeing with you over and over and you bring up the points again and again in various threads as if you did not read anything.

Monte, do not appreciate you saying the above about me. Was not planning to widen this and went out of my way to edit-out much of the content from my prior 2 posts so as to not inflame this situation but you could not leave well enough alone and later continued to make me look bad by later posting the nonsense that I am in an extremely small mnority.

Since I do not like someone falsely accusing me and saying "I am losing credibility" I did read the threads as you suggested I do and easily found many other members who had views similar to my own, so it eems I am not in a super minority after all. Some of those posts are reprinted below. Also, I have indeed sent emails to Moniker over the past several mos which were ignored, I later called a few times and was told names may not be unlocked via phone and must be in writing (contrary to what Radistar said). I then told supt I already sent several emails and they claimed no record of them, back to first base it seems.

Monte, please understand the domain business is quite time consuming and and more and more hassle is not wanted. I spend 16 hrs/day, 7 days/week working on domains and do not want all this trouble simply trying to transfer a name which you somehow control. I never gave you such authority over a name I paid for. The firm I am transferring to requires payment up front for a transfer. Every time a transfer is rejected I have already paid the $ and need to try to get a refund, not too easy as sometimes I may even forget, or else the billing records are confusing, making it tough to figure out the status or if a refund was given or not. This all results in a huge loss of time, annoyance and possible money loss too.

Of course I am in favor of good security. However, if your clients want a lockdown then it should be up to them to simply lock the names. It should not be your decision to make. If the client unlocks the name then you have no right to still block transfers away

Please rethink your policy and understand why so many domainers are negative toward you over the issue of you being in control of their names.

----------------

Quotes Below From Other Forum Board Members:

Originally posted by Bob: I purchased some names that were registered at Moniker awhile back. I tried to transfer them to eNom, and they were rejected because of a registrar lock. I logged into my Moniker account, found the "lock" section, and unlocked the domains in question. I then attempted another transfer. They were again rejected. I repeated this three more times (5 times total). Finally, I got mad and called Moniker. They told me that they were "a high security registrar" and that all domain names are automatically put on registrar hold status to prevent any transfers. When I asked why you could unlock a name, but still not have it transfer out, they did not have an answer. I finally asked the guy what I had to do to get the name unlocked. He said that I had to send an email to "upper management", request the names that I wanted to transfer, and get this "provide a reason why I wanted to do an outbound transfer." Geez...

Bidawinner: Bob I had nothing but trouble from those screw balls last year when they were another company..they put up every roadblock they could to prevent names from transfering out.......

Bidawinner: So Monte in other words you are the perfect registar for Corporate clients that sit on their domains..but not so perfect for those that buy and sell domains on a daily basis. Thank You for clearing that up.

Bidawinner: .....You do the same thing at domainsystems.com..you make it a pain in the arse to get names out of their..Thats why after at one point having 100names I quit usiig your service. The last 10 names I had with you guys I had to sell the account..wasnt even going to mess with trying to transfer anything out...hell I even had to post a disclaimer when I posted those names for sale that it would be extremely difficult to transfer out. Everytime I tried to transfer I would get the run around then the pressure sales to stay .. re-read the post by Bob, this is almost exactly the same treament I recieved.. Bob is also a well respected member, he isnt just spouting off some nonsense .. you guys are a pain to do business.

Yesonline said: I have just transferred a domain away from moniker.com and same situation happened to me, and the worse was when they finally sent you a transfer confirmation email with a confirmation link, told you must click the link to validate the transfer request, and then you found the link DID NOT WORK BUT SHOWING AN ERROR MESSAGE!! Though they finally approve the transfer manually after I send my complaint again, what an experience to keep people away from them.

Classicnames: The same happened with me at Moniker as well....

Biggedon: ....I have only one domain there,and have previously overlooked buying domains from sellers whose names were registered there, primarily because of the hassles mentioned.....

Mole: The safer the better, imho, so long as emails sent are replied. I think the issue here was Moniker ignores you completely.

Bidawinner: I guess you have to understand I had not one, not 2 but 3-4 times problems.each and every time I tried to transfer aname .. Thast is not security AFTER they know it is "you" asking for the transfer..It becomes"
Well why are you moving the names" You know we can set up your customer an account" We'll what kind of prices do pay for registrations their" etc..
That is Not security ..it's a thinly veiled attempt to simply not lose customers using hard sell tactics..I found it offensive..

Bidawinner: You have to call and convince him you are who you are and that you want the names transfered out..then you have to listen to the pressure sales tactics trying to convince you not to transfer out.

JuniperPark: ....I too am having trouble buying this 'security issue' story.......Mcahn's bluff has been called. He was unable to transfer that name I specified out of eNom, which he claimed was possible in this thread. Use of security fears as a selling tool is not a good thing.

Shaw: Moving domains to Moniker to prevent domain hijacking is like moving to jail to prevent burglaries......Your example is nothing but scare tactics.....the problem is he's slandering good registrars like enom and opensrs, and using reports of domain theft from verisign to imply that only his registrar is secure. If this is not scare tactics, what is?

Biz: ......I've actually plan 2 weeks ahead to transfer the domain before the expiration date. However, it expires today and I still couldn't get the name out of Moniker. They charge $19/year for .COM renewal.

Seeker: ....I have a domain that needs to be urgently renewd at moniker.
The problem is... I cant figure out how to do it. I only have 2 domains there, and the other doesnt expire for quite some time, so how can I pay for the renewal of just 1? they seem to go by buying 'credits' that start at X5, which I assume are 5 domains or 5 years, but I just need 1.

Bidawinner: There prices suck their CEO dosent understand the word NO, They use high pressurer sales tactics and when ever you need something done you need to ask Monte.. Oh Joy ..Please Monte can have free URL redirection..l Oh please Monte can I transefer my names away from Monte ..Oh PLease MOnet can I wipe my ass now..Pathetic....

Bidawinner: Monte still diverts the questions and some of you still kiss his rear.. unbelieveable.. if it was anyone else you all would be up in arms.

-----------------------------

Finally Monte you said I was making a false statement (I assume re me saying you need to personally approve transfers) I found this post below from you to verify it was in fact not falsely said:

McCahn: .....I personally review every transfer out request and if I do not hear from our customers through email (account email on the domain) or via authorized fax, the name stays at Moniker....

 

[Monte]

Realnames,

I did not mean to upset you, however, I run 4 ICANN Accredited registrars, along with DomainSystems, and a hosting company, etc. Like you, we spend 24 hours each day providing services for our customers. I personally am online 18+ hours each day as most of you know.

Our policy was put in place for several reasons - based on our own experience as resellers for most of the other systems and demand from clients such as The NHL, Disney, Jupitermedia and large clients such as Netster, Nokta UltSearch and many of you. It is what it is and we are not changing security to risk a domain loss just to save one little step.

I feel this is such an important issue that I personally am involved in the process. If you do not see that as a good thing, then you are entitled to your opinion. Don't use us then. If you use Pool, or buy a name off of one of our clients, you are going to have to follow our policy....even after November 12th.

What does not make sense is that you and Bidawinner continue to bring up the issue over and over as if its going to change....it's not!

Let's move on to productive discussions, not bashing each other. That's the way I'd prefer to do business and interact with all of you. That is also why I take time to participate in this forum and others, when my counterparts do not. I/we are not perfect and we are always looking to improve our systems and our approach. I am listening but I am listing to constructive criticism and suggestion....not attacks.

Let's move on and sorry if I offended any of you in any way...even juniperpark and bidawinner (who continues to act most unprofessionally)

Thanks

 

[bidawinner]

Keep in mind everyone while you are awaiting for your domains to be "approved" for transfer ..Monte is in here playing tag

 

[David G]

........you are going to have to follow our policy....even after November 12th. ..........Let's move on and sorry if I offended any of you in any way...even juniperpark and bidawinner (who continues to act most unprofessionally) Thanks

So let me get this straight, are you saying for the record you intend to ignore the new ICANN transfer rules which are effective on Nov 12?