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Inter-Registrar Transfers Policy Information
Last Updated 31 March 2004
The new transfer policy is intended to provide a procedure for the smooth transition of a domain name from one registrar to another when such a change is requested by the domain name holder. The policy was developed and implemented through a transparent process of which an overview is provided below.
Status of the New Transfer Procedures
The Transfer assistance Group (TAG) recommended changes to the transfer policy documents based on the comments received in the official comment period for the implementation of the policy. ICANN has reviewed these recommendations from the TAG and amended the policy documents to reflect the suggested changes. The new versions of the draft transfer policy documents based on these changes are as follows:
Recently (after the comment period had closed) ICANN received additional comments concerning the policy. ICANN is currently in the process of reviewing these comments and will be announcing the final documents as soon as feasible. The additional comments are as posted in the following letter:
History and Process of the New Transfer Procedures
12 February 2003: The GNSO Transfer Task Force Group finalized their recommendation in a Final Report on Gaining and Losing Registrars to the GNSO Council. (The 29 policy recommendations).
20 February 2003: The GNSO Council voted unanimously to accept the GNSO Transfer Task Force Report. The report was then forwarded to ICANN's Board for further action and approval.
25 April 2003: The ICANN Board adopted the 29 policy recommendations, and further the President and General Counsel of ICANN were authorized to implement the policy recommendations, by consulting with knowledgeable parties.
July 2003: In consulting with such parties ICANN staff formed the Transfer Assistance Group (TAG). The TAG, along with ICANN staff, has worked on a recommendation for the implementation of the new transfer procedures, based on the 29 policy recommendations approved by the ICANN Board.
Jan 2004: The TAG provided ICANN's General Counsel with a final recommendation on how the transfer policy should be implemented.
ICANN's General Counsel reviewed the final recommendation and instructed ICANN Staff to provide the Registry Constituency, the Registrar Constituency, and the ALAC the opportunity of a 2 week comment period. The three constituencies were contacted by the representative members of the TAG.
March 2004: ICANN made changes to the policy documents based on the comments received during the comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period have been posted above for public review. ICANN staff is opening a solicitation for proposals by providers of independent review services (IRP). The selected IRP will be in place before the Transfer Policy is in effect (90 days after the posting of the final documents). The TAG will consider the last published comments within the next several days, recommend amendments to the policy documents if necessary after which the final policy documents will be posted.