Initial Report on the Post Expiration Domain Name Recovery Policy Development Process Executive Summary STATUS OF THIS DOCUMT ThisistheExecutiveSummaryoftheInitialReportonthePost ExpirationDomainNameRecoveryPDP, preparedbyicannstaffforsubmissiontothegnsocouncilon31may2010.afinalreportwillbeprepared followingpubliccomment. Author: Marika Konings Page 1 of 8
Table of Content GLOSSARY 3 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 Author: Marika Konings Page 2 of 8
Glossary Auto Renew Grace Period Auto RenewGracePeriodisaspecifiednumberofcalendardaysfollowinganauto renewal.an auto renewaloccursifadomainnameregistrationisnotrenewedbyaregistrar(onbehalfofa ResellerorRegistrant)bytheexpirationdate;inthiscircumstancetheregistrationwillbe automaticallyrenewedbytheregistrythefirstdayaftertheexpirationdate.thewhoisrecordis updatedtoshowexpirationdateone yearinthefutureeventhoughtheregistranthasnotactually paidfortherenewal,andthereforemaynotbelegallyentitledtotheadditionalregistrationyear.in mostcasestheregistrar saccountisassessedtheregistryrenewalfeeatthattime,butsome registriesmaynotassessafeeontheregistraruntilaftertheauto renewgraceperiodends.the currentlengthoftheauto RenewGracePeriodis45days,andisneverterminatedearlybya registry,butaregistrarcanopttodeletethedomainnamepriortothen. Manyregistrarsandresellersoptionallyofferanauto renewalservicewheretheregistrant's accountorcreditcardischarged(withoutanyactiontakenbytheregistrant)torenewthedomain closetoorattheexpirationdate.becausethisoptionalofferinghasasimilarnametothe(registry) auto renewalpolicy,aregistrantissometimesconfusedandareaderofthisdocumentmustbe carefultokeepthesetwounrelatedtopicssegregated. EDDP ExpiredDomainDeletionPolicy TheEDDPisanICANNconsensuspolicythatrevisedthedomainregistrationexpirationprovisionsin ICANN sregistraraccreditationagreementindecember2004.forfurtherdetails,pleasesee http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/eddp.htm. RAE RegistrantAtthetimeofExpiration Inordertofacilitatediscussionsandnomenclature,thePEDNRWGintroducedtheterm Registrant AtthetimeofExpiration (RAE)todistinguishbetweenthepersonorentitythatislistedinWHOISas theregisterednameholderatthetimeofexpirationandthepersonorentitythatislistedin WHOISastheRegisteredNameHolderfollowingexpiration,whichmightbedifferentfollowing Author: Marika Konings Page 3 of 8
expiration.manyregistrationagreementsallowtheregistrartoalterthewhoisdatatoindicate thattheregistraritself,anaffiliate,orathirdpartyistheregistrantatthistime,buttheprevalence ofthispracticewasnotstudied. RGP Redemption Grace Period TheRedemptionGracePeriod(RGP)isanoptionalserviceofferedbysomeregistriesandregistrars.. AlthoughtheimplementationdetailsmayvaryindifferentgTLDs,whenadeleteddomainname entersthergp,itwillnotbeincludedintheroot tldzonefile(i.e.,thenameserversforthedomain willnotbelisted,thusthedomainnamewillnotresolve nowebtrafficore mailswillreachthe domainoranydestination).thedomainnamewillbesoidentifiedinwhoisandheldinthergpfor 30calendardaysoruntilrestored.AttheconclusionoftheRGP(andabriefpending deleteperiod), thedomainnamewillbereturnedtothepoolofdomainnamesavailableforregistration.allnonsponsoredgtldregistriesapartfrom.proand.nameofferthergp.evenwhereofferedbya registry,registrarsarenotrequiredtoprovidetheredemptionservicetoregistrants. Registrar WithrespecttogTLDs,aRegistrarisanentitythathasenteredintotheRegistrarAccreditation Agreement(RAA)withICANNandcanthereforeregisterdomainsonbehalfofgTLDs( Registrar Services ). Reseller AResellerisanentitythatcontractswithaRegistrartoprovideRegistrarServices.AReselleris requiredtohonourthesametermasregistrarsrelatedtoregistrationagreementtermsandnotices thatmustbeprovided. Author: Marika Konings Page 4 of 8
1. Executive Summary 1.1 Background At the ICANN Meeting in Cairo in November 2008, the At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), voted to request an Issues Report on the subject of registrants being able to recover domain namesaftertheirformalexpirationdate. TheALACrequestwassubmittedtoICANNpolicystaffandtheGNSOCouncilon20November 2008. TheIssuesReportonPost ExpirationDomainNameRecoverywassubmittedtotheGNSO Councilon5December2008. TheGNSOCouncilinitiatedaPDPon7May2009andtaskedaWorkingGrouptoanswerthe followingcharterquestions: 1. Whetheradequateopportunityexistsforregistrantstoredeemtheirexpireddomain names; 2. Whetherexpiration relatedprovisionsintypicalregistrationagreementsareclearand conspicuousenough; 3. Whetheradequatenoticeexiststoalertregistrantsofupcomingexpirations; 4. Whetheradditionalmeasuresneedtobeimplementedtoindicatethatonceadomainname enterstheauto RenewGracePeriod,ithasexpired(e.g.,holdstatus,anoticeonthesite withalinktoinformationonhowtorenew,orotheroptionstobedetermined); 5. WhethertoallowthetransferofadomainnameduringtheRGP. The Post Expiration Domain Name Recovery (PEDNR) PDP Working Group started its deliberationsinjuly2009. 1.3 Issue Background Section3.2providesanoverviewofthecurrentpre andpost expirationprocessasdescribedin thepost ExpirationDomainNameRecoveryIssuesReport. Author: Marika Konings Page 5 of 8
1.3 Deliberations of the PEDNR WG ThePEDNRWorkingGroupstarteditsdeliberationsinJuly2009whereitwasdecidedto continuetheworkprimarilythroughfirstbi weeklyandthenweeklyconferencecalls,in additiontoe mailexchanges. Section7providesanoverviewofthedeliberationsoftheWorkingGroupconductedbothby conferencecallaswellase mailthreads.itshouldbenotedthattheworkinggroupwillnot makeafinaldecisiononwhichsolution(s),ifany,torecommendtothegnsocouncilbeforea thoroughreviewofthecommentsreceivedduringthepubliccommentperiodontheinitial Report. Noevidenceestablishingtheprevalenceofunintentionaldomainnamelosswaspresented, despiterequestsforthisresearchbysomemembersofthewg. Asinstructedinitscharter,thePEDNRWGstarteditsdeliberationsbyreviewingcurrent registrarpracticesregardingdomainnameexpiration,renewal,andpost expirationrecovery.in ordertogatherfurtherinformation,itwasdecidedtoconductaregistrarsurvey.section5 providesanoverviewofthemainquestionsandoutcomesofthesurvey. ThePEDNRWGCharterinstructstheWorkingGroupto pursuetheavailabilityoffurther informationfromicanncompliancestafftounderstandhowcurrentraaprovisionsand consensuspoliciesregardingdeletion,auto renewal,andrecoveryofdomainnamesfollowing expirationareenforced.tofacilitatethisprocess,icanncompliancestaffhasparticipated activelyinthedeliberationsoftheworkinggroupandhasprovidedtheinformationoutlinedin section6oncomplaintsreceivedandexpireddomaindeletionpolicyaudits. 1.4 Potential options for consideration InordertoassesstheviewsoftheWGmembersanddeterminewheretheremightbe agreementorconsensusonapossibleapproachforward,asurveywasconductedamongstthe WGmembership.Basedontheinitialresults,adraftingteam(asubsetoftheWG)was convenedtorefinethesurvey,includingaselectionofpossibleremedies.section8describes therefinedsurvey,theoptionsconsidered,andthepollresults. TheWGisencouragingtheICANNCommunitytoprovideinputonthedifferentquestionsand optionsoutlinedinthissectionsothatthesecanbetakenintoaccountduringthesecondphase Author: Marika Konings Page 6 of 8
ofthepdpduringwhichthewghopestoreachconsensusonaproposedwayforwardforeach ofthecharterquestions. Factoringintheoutcomesofthesurvey,theWGwillformulateasetofrecommendationsfor considerationbythegnso. Thefollowingquestionswereaddressedinthesurvey(forfurtherdetailsandcontext,please seesection8). Overarching Issues 1. ShouldtheRAEhavetheabilitytorecoverhis/herdomainnameregistrationfollowing expirationforacertainamountoftime?[charterquestion1] 2. WhatshouldthisminimumtimeframebeduringwhichtheRAEhastheabilitytorecoverthe domainnameregistration?[charterquestion1] Period Prior to Expiration 3. ThecurrentprovisionsintheRAAonlymakereferenceofasecondnotice 3.7.5Atthe conclusionoftheregistrationperiod,failurebyoronbehalfoftheregisterednameholderto consentthattheregistrationberenewedwithinthetimespecifiedinasecondnoticeor remindershall,intheabsenceofextenuatingcircumstances,resultincancellationofthe registrationbytheendoftheauto renewgraceperiod(althoughregistrarmaychoosetocancel thenameearlier). Isthisprovisionsufficientlyclear?[CharterQuestion3] 4. Shouldfurtherdetailsbeprovidedonwhenthesenoticesaresent?Ifyes,whatfurtherdetails wouldfacilitatetransparencyandinformation,whileatthesametimenotrestrictingregistrars fromtakingadditionalmeasurestoalertregistrants?[charterquestion3] 5. Shouldfurtherdetailsbeprovidedonhowthesenoticesaresent?Ifyes,whatfurtherdetails wouldfacilitatetransparencyandcommunications,whileatthesametimenotrestricting registrarsfromtakingadditionalmeasurestoalertregistrants?[charterquestion3] 6. Shouldadditionalmeasuresbeimplementedtoensurethatregistrantsareawarethatiftheir contactinformationisnotuptodate,theymostlikelywillnotreceivenotices/reminders?if yes,whatkindofmeasuresshouldbeexplored?[charterquestion3] Post Expiration Author: Marika Konings Page 7 of 8
7. ShouldWHOISstatusmessagesrelatedtoexpirationbeclarified/changedtoavoidconfusion overwhenadomainnameregistrationexpires/hasbeenrenewedbytheregistry?[charter Question3] 8. Arenoticespost expirationrequired?[charterquestion3] 9. HowshouldanHTTP(port80)requestusingtheexpireddomainnameresolve?[Charter Question4] 10. Howshoulde maildirectedatanaddresswithintheexpireddomainbehaveafterexpiration [CharterQuestion4] 11. Whatshouldhappenwithnon web,non e mailservicespostexpiration(i.e.shouldicann specifywhathappenstoallipports,orjustthosespecifictowebande mailservices)?[charter Question4] 12. ShouldaRAEhavetheabilitytorequestanInter RegistrarTransferafterexpiration? Contractual Conditions 13. Areyouoftheopinionthatregistrantsunderstandandareabletofindrenewalandexpiration relatedinformationeasily?howcansuchunderstandingbeimproved?[charterquestion2] 14. Shouldthefeetobechargedforrenewalofadomainnameafterexpirationbeexplicitlystated? 15. Shouldinformationonwheretofindthecostforrecoveryafterexpirationbeintheregistration agreement?[charterquestion1] Redemption Grace Period 16. ShouldtheRedemptionGracePeriodbeadoptedasaconsensuspolicyforgTLDRegistries? [CharterQuestion1] 17. ShouldregistrarsberequiredtooffertheRedemptionGracePolicyforregistriesthatofferit? [CharterQuestion1] 18. ShouldatransferofadomainnameduringtheRGPbeallowed?[CharterQuestion5] Author: Marika Konings Page 8 of 8