ICANN now asks registrants to validate all the WHOIS changes

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has implemented a new policy, which will be called upon every time a correction to the registrant information listed in the public WHOIS database comes to pass.

The policy has been effective since December 1, 2016, and applies to all ICANN-accredited domain registrars. As such, we have had to integrate it across our platform as well.

The policy concerns all .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ and .INFO domain registrants seeking to edit their WHOIS details (their first/last name, email address and/or organization).

What is the origin of this new policy

In fact, the new policy is basically a revisal of ICANN’s IRTP (Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy), which details the verification steps registrants wishing to transfer their domain(s) must pass through.

The new ‘amendment’ also touches upon the ins and outs of the domain transfer procedure, which now involves a sequence of notification and confirmation emails. Simple WHOIS info changes haven’t been omitted either.

How will this policy from ICANN affect domain owners?

ICANN’s new policy brought several important WHOIS modification-related novelties. They can be summed up as follows:

• domain owners won’t be able to update their WHOIS information with a simple mouse click anymore;
• domain owners will have to confirm any modifications made to the WHOIS database-included first/last name, email address or organization via email;
• the WHOIS update will not take effect until both the old and the new registrant contacts (even if they are one and the same person) give their permission;
• the old and the new registrant contacts will receive a notification via email once the update takes effect;
• the respective domain will become transfer-locked for 60 days every time a WHOIS change takes place;
• in case a domain owner makes a WHOIS modification prior to starting a domain transfer, the owner receive the option to opt out of the 60-day lock so that the domain in question can be transferred once the WHOIS modification validation process concludes successfully;

How exactly does ICANN’s new policy work?

ICANN’s new policy is brought into play each and every time a domain owner makes a WHOIS modification. It wont matter if it is a domain ownership change or a mere contact info update.

Here’s what the WHOIS update confirmation process looks like with us:

• The given domain owner needs to send a WHOIS update request whereupon:
• We will send the new registrant contact a WHOIS modification validation request, inviting them to allow/disallow the update;
• We will send the old registrant contact a WHOIS modification validation request, inviting them to allow/disallow the update;
• If the purpose of the WHOIS modification is to transfer the respective domain to another registrar, we will present its owner with the possibility of opting out of the 60-day lock that will enter into force once the WHOIS change has been given the go-ahead. Thus, they will be able to commence the transfer as soon as the update confirmation procedure has been fully completed;
• We will finalize the WHOIS modification process after the update has been okayed and will send both the old and the new registrant contacts notification emails to inform them of the successful completion of the operation. No additional action will be required of them thereupon.

The modification validation request will be cancelled (and the update won’t be reflected in the WHOIS database) if the old or the new registrant contact fails to respond to it within five calendar days of receipt.

REMINDER: To comply with ICANN’s new policy, we will send out two different emails. This will happen even if the given domain owner wishes to merely make a modification to their organization, for instance.

The WHOIS modification validation procedure presented above does not apply to ID Protection-shielded domain names.

We’ve altered our TOS disclaimer to render it possible.

From now on, domain owners can bestow “Designated Agent” status on LiquidNet Ltd.

This will enable us to activate/deactivate the ID Protection feature whenever a registrant has submitted a WHOIS modification request.

Needless to say, we will opt out of the above-mentioned 60-day lock each and every time a transfer gets underway, allowing it to go through.