ICANN Announcements

Read ICANN Announcements to stay informed of the latest policymaking activities, regional events, and more.

Public Comment Period Now Open for Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Denials Definitions PDP

15 September 2008

In addition to the U.N. six languages, this content is also available in

The GNSO Council approved on 4 September 2008 a motion on the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Denial Definitions Public Development Process (PDP). The motion, which is pending for Board action, proposes new texts for two of the nine denial reasons (#8 and #9) while recommending that work on denial reasons #5 and #7 be suspended until such time as a Policy Development Process is initiated on PDP C on IRTP operational rule enhancement as outlined in the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Issues PDP Recommendations of 19 March 2008.

The public is invited to submit comments until 6 October 2008 before final consideration by the Board.

Deadline and how to submit comments

Comments are welcome via e-mail to irtp-denials@icann.org until 6 October 2008.

Access to the public comment forum from which comments can be posted can be found at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200810.html#irtp-denials.

An archive of all comments received will be publicly posted at http://forum.icann.org/lists/irtp-denials/.

Background

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) aims to provide a straightforward procedure for domain name holders to transfer their names from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another. As part of a broader review of this policy, the GNSO Council initiated a PDP to examine four specific issues from the broader list that addressed reasons for which a registrar of record may deny a request to transfer a domain name to a new registrar. The IRTP currently enumerates nine (9) specific reasons why a registrar can deny a transfer. Those issues identified as needing clarification included the following:

  • “No payment for previous registration period” (Denial Reason #5);
  • “A domain was already in “lock” status” (Denial Reason #7);
  • The domain was in the first 60 days of an initial registration period (Denial Reason #8); and
  • A domain name is within 60 days of being transferred (Denial Reason #9)

ICANN Staff finalized and posted an Initial Report for public comment as part of this PDP and used public comments received to compile a Final Report for the Council's consideration on further steps to take. At the GNSO Council meeting on 17 April 2008, a drafting group was launched to develop suggested text modifications for the four transfer denial reasons. The drafting group addressing this first set of transfer denial reasons reported on its findings to the GNSO Council. The Council resolved on 25 June 2008 to post the proposals for transfer denial reasons #8 and #9 for public comments, while deferring denial reasons #5 and #7 to be handled in a future transfer policy development process (PDP C). The proposals of the GNSO drafting group addressing transfer denial reasons #8 and #9 were posted for public comments on 26 June 2008. One comment was received and sent to the GNSO Council for consideration. On 4 September 2008, the GNSO Council adopted the motion on the IRTP Denial Definitions PDP.

Background documents