[AfrICANN-discuss] 123 Registration, Inc. Loses ICANN Accreditation

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

 News Alert

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30jun10-en.htm
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 123 Registration, Inc. Loses ICANN Accreditation

30 June 2010

ICANN terminated its accreditation agreement with 123 Registration, Inc.
(“123 Registration”) for failure to comply with the requirements of the
Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), the contract between ICANN and
registrars that governs the registration of domain names under generic
top-level domains such as dot-com and dot-org.
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/burnette-to-wolverton-25jun10-en.pdf[PDF,
64 KB]

To ensure continuing resolution of domain names and renewal of name
registrations, ICANN has initiated a process to identify a qualified
accredited registrar to take over management of the domain names formerly
managed by 123 Registration through a bulk transfer. Guidance is provided
below in the form of Frequently Asked Questions for registrants who may be
affected by this action.

Frequently Asked Questions

*Q. What does it mean that my registrar’s accreditation agreement was
terminated?*

A. Your registrar breached one or more provisions of its Registrar
Accreditation Agreement (RAA) and failed to cure the breach(es) within the
time period allowed by that contract. As a result, your registrar’s contract
with ICANN was terminated and it is no longer ICANN-accredited. This means
that your registrar will no longer be permitted to register generic
top-level domain names (such as in dot-com and dot-org) or continue to
manage such registrations.

*Q. If I have domain names with a registrar that lost its accreditation,
will I lose my domain names?*

A. ICANN is working with partners in the domain registration community to
ensure your name is not lost. Your registrar’s gTLD names will be
transferred to another registrar, as described below. Only names registered
to generic TLDs through this registrar are affected. Registrations in
two-letter country-code (ccTLD) names, such as .US and .CN, are not affected
by this process.

*Q. How will the domain name transfer process work?*

A. ICANN will follow the De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure
(posted at
http://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf[PDF,
119 KB]) which is intended to ensure a timely transition in the event
of the de-accreditation of a registrar.

In summary, the De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure is initiated by
providing the de-accredited registrar an opportunity to propose a receiving
registrar at or about the same time ICANN posts a request for registrars to
submit expressions of interest if they wish to be considered as potential
recipients of a bulk transfer. Registrars are typically given one week to
submit their expressions of interest. ICANN considers several factors in
deciding whether to authorize a bulk transfer to the proposed registrar, and
the transfer can only be approved if it would promote the community
interest.

If the de-accredited registrar fails to propose a receiving registrar or if
ICANN determines that the proposed transfer would not promote the community
interest, ICANN will review all submitted expressions of interest and invite
all qualified registrar-applicants to participate in a one-week negotiation
period. In the negotiation period, the registrar-applicants must submit
competitive proposals that will be scored on pre-determined, objective
criteria. The qualified registrar with the highest score will be selected to
receive the bulk transfer of names.

Once the receiving registrar is selected, ICANN will provide it with
available registration data and notify the registries to effect the bulk
transfer after the data has been integrated into the receiving registrar’s
systems. The receiving registrar will then send notices to the affected
registrants, with instructions on how to begin managing names with the
receiving registrar.

*Q. Will the chosen receiving registrar receive my registration data for my
domain names?*

A. The registration data for the gTLD names formerly managed by your
registrar will be provided to the receiving registrar. This information will
allow the receiving registrar to contact all registrants and create customer
accounts for them so the receiving registrar may quickly begin managing the
registrations. If your name is registered by a Whois privacy or proxy
service, the receiving registrar will typically only receive the Whois
privacy or proxy service registrant information.

*Q. Will I be charged for this process?*

A. No, the transfer process itself is provided free of any charge to
registrants. You should note, however, that the transfer will not change the
current expiration date of your domain name registration. After the bulk
transfer process is completed, you will be contacted by the registrar that
receives the terminated registrar’s domain names with information about your
options.

*Q. How long will it take ICANN to identify a registrar to receive the
domain names?*

A. We expect to identify a qualified registrar to receive domain names
within 30 days; however, the process of identifying a qualified registrar
and completing the transfer of registration information may, on occasion,
take longer. ICANN will post a notice on its website when a qualified
registrar has been identified and the transfer completed.

*Q. My domain name is about to expire. How can I make sure it does not get
deleted before the transfer?*

A. Do not let your domain name expire. Protect yourself by either renewing
your domain name with the current registrar or transferring your domain name
to a new registrar before your registrar’s accreditation agreement is
finally terminated or expires.  Either will add another year to your
registration term. Please send an email to compliance at icann.org if you are
unable to transfer or renew the name. ICANN will work to effect the bulk
transfer as quickly as possible after the termination date.

*Q. What do I need to do now if my name is not due to expire soon?*

A. You do not need to do anything right now. You will be contacted by the
company that receives the domain names registered through your registrar in
due course.

*Q. What if I want to transfer my domain name to a registrar other than the
one that is chosen for the bulk transfer?*

A. You will be able to transfer your domain to a different registrar some
time after the bulk transfer, assuming that no other condition exists to
support a denial of the transfer.

Please note that the gaining registrar is allowed to deny transfers for the
first 60 days following the bulk transfer. If the gaining registrar allows,
you may move your domain in those first 60 days; otherwise, you will need to
wait 60 days before approaching a different registrar and requesting a
transfer. For more information on the transfer of a registration between
registrars, please see the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, at
http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/policy-en.htm.

*Q. What if my domain name is registered by a Whois privacy or proxy
service?*

A. If the privacy or proxy service is the registrant of record for your
domain name(s), you should ensure that the service forwards to you any
information it receives from the ICANN-accredited registrar selected to
receive the bulk transfer.

*Q. What if my domain name was deleted before my registrar was
de-accredited, but I want it back?*

A. If the name is available for registration, you may register it with your
preferred ICANN-accredited registrar (see
http://www.internic.net/regist.html).

If the name has since been registered by someone else, you have at least
three options:

   1. Work out an agreement with the current registrant.
   2. Wait to see if the current registrant lets the domain name expire.
   3. If you believe the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to
   a trademark or service mark in which you have rights, and the current
   registrant has registered and is using the name in bad faith (and has no
   rights or legitimate interests in the name), you can begin an administrative
   proceeding under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP).
   (Note: this is a legal proceeding, so you should proceed with caution.) For
   more details on this option, including a list of dispute resolution service
   providers, please see http://www.icann.org/en/udrp/udrp.htm.

   Please note that the UDRP applies only to domain names in generic
   top-level domains (such as .COM and .NET). Dispute resolution policies vary
   in other TLDs such as .US and .CN and the 249 other country code top-level
   domains. You may wish to seek legal advice to determine if the UDRP is
   applicable to your situation, or to assist in identifying additional
   alternatives.

*Q. I have read everything above but I still have some questions. Whom
should I contact?*

A. The receiving registrar will contact you shortly after the bulk transfer
takes place. You should contact this registrar first with any issues. If you
are still not able to get an answer to your questions, you may contact
ICANN’s contractual compliance team at compliance at icann.org.
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