Unsponsored TLD Agreement: Appendix C, Section I (.info)

(20 October 2003)

The redlining below shows changes to the May 2001 version of Appendix C, Section I of the .info Registry Agreement to implement the Redemption Grace Period Service. Added text is shown with underlining and in magenta; deleted text is shown stricken out and in red.

Functional Specifications

Section I—Grace and Pending Period Policy

A Grace Period refers to a specified number of calendar days following a Registry operation in which the domain may be deleted and a credit may be issued to a registrar. Relevant registry operations in this context are:

• Registration of a new domain
• Extension of an existing domain
• Auto-Renew of an existing domain
• Transfer of an existing domain
• Deletion of an existing domain
• Restore of a deleted domain

Extension of a registration period is accomplished using the EPP Renew command or by auto-renewal; registration is accomplished using the EPP Create command; deletion is accomplished using the EPP Delete command; and transfer is accomplished using the EPP Transfer command or where ICANN approves a bulk transfer under Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement, using the method described in Section B - Bulk Transfer portion of this Appendix. Restore is accomplished either by using the Restore screen in the web-based administrative site, or by using the EPP Renew command with the RGP extension; provided, however, that in the case of (i) Bulk Transfers under Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement and (ii) Large Incidents, Restore may be accomplished by e-mail or fax using a Restore Request Form as specified by Registry Operator.

There are four five grace periods in the Afilias Shared Registration System:

1. Add Grace Period
2. Renew/Extend Grace Period
3. Auto-Renew Grace Period
4. Transfer Grace Period
5. Redemption Grace Period

A Pending Period refers to a specified number of calendar days following a Registry operation in which final Registry action is deferred before the operation may be completed. Relevant Registry operations in this context are:

• Transfer of an existing domain
• Deletion of an existing domain

Grace Periods

Add Grace Period

The Add Grace Period is a specified number of calendar days following the initial registration of a domain. The current value of the Add Grace Period for all registrars is five calendar days. If a Delete, Extend (Renew), or Transfer operation occurs within the five calendar days, the following rules apply:

• Delete: If a domain is deleted within the Add Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar at the time of the deletion is credited for the amount of the registration. The domain is removed deleted from the Registry database and is immediately available for registration by any registrar. See Overlapping Grace Periods for a description of overlapping grace period exceptions. If a domain name is deleted after the five calendar day grace period expires, it will be placed on HOLD for five calendar days and then deleted through the system.
• Extend (Renew): If a domain is extended within the Add Grace Period, there is no credit for the Add. The account of the sponsoring Registrar at the time of the extension will be charged for the initial add plus the number of years the registration is extended. The expiration date of the domain is extended by the number of years, up to a total of ten years, as specified by the registrar's requested Extend operation.
• Transfer (other than ICANN-approved bulk transfer): Transfers under Part A of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement may not occur during the Add Grace Period or at any other time within the first 60 days after the initial registration. Enforcement is the responsibility of the registrar sponsoring the domain name registration and will be enforced by the SRS.
• Bulk Transfer (with ICANN approval): Bulk transfers with ICANN approval may be made during the Add Grace Period according to the procedures in Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. The expiration dates of transferred registrations are not affected. The losing Registrar's account is charged for the initial add.

Renew/Extend Grace Period

The Renew/Extend Grace Period is a specified number of calendar days following the renewal/extension of a domain name registration period. The current value of the Renew/Extend Grace Period is five calendar days. If a Delete, Extend, or Transfer occurs within that five calendar days, the following rules apply:

• Delete: If a domain is deleted within the Renew/Extend Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar at the time of the deletion receives a credit of the renew/extend fee. The domain is deleted from the Registry database and is moved to the Redemption Grace Period (that is to the status: Pending Delete--Restorable) as described in Section J, Appendix C. immediately available for registration by any registrar. See Overlapping Grace Periods for a description of overlapping grace period exceptions.
• Extend (Renew): A domain can be extended within the Renew/Extend Grace Period for up to a total of ten years. The registrar's available credit will be charged for each of the additional number of years the registration is extended.
• Transfer (other than ICANN-approved bulk transfer): If a domain is transferred within the Renew/Extend Grace Period, there is no credit. The expiration date of the domain is extended by one year and the years added as a result of the Extend remain on the domain name up to a total of 10 years.
• Bulk Transfer (with ICANN approval): Bulk transfers with ICANN approval may be made during the Renew/Extend Grace Period according to the procedures in Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. The expiration dates of transferred registrations are not affected. The losing Registrar's account is charged for the Renew/Extend operation.

Auto-Renew Grace Period

The Auto-Renew Grace Period is a specified number of calendar days following an auto-renewal. An auto-renewal occurs if a domain name registration is not renewed by the expiration date; in this circumstance the registration will be automatically renewed by the system the first day after the expiration date. The current value of the Auto-Renew Grace Period is 45 calendar days. If a Delete, Extend, or Transfer occurs within the Auto-Renew Grace Period, the following rules apply:

• Delete: If a domain is deleted within the Auto-Renew Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar at the time of the deletion receives a credit of the Auto-Renew fee. The domain is deleted from the Registry database and is moved to the Redemption Grace Period (that is to the status: Pending Delete—Restorable) as described in Section J, Appendix C immediately available for registration by any Registrar. See Overlapping Grace Periods for a description of overlapping grace period exceptions.
• Extend (Renew): A domain can be extended within the Auto-Renew Grace Period for up to a total of ten years. The account of the sponsoring Registrar at the time of the additional extension will be charged for the additional number of years the registration is extended.
• Transfer (other than ICANN-approved bulk transfer): If a domain is transferred under Part A of Exhibit D of the Registry-Registrar Agreement within the Auto-Renew Grace Period, the losing Registrar is credited with the Auto-Renew charge and the year added by the Auto-Renew operation is cancelled. The expiration date of the domain is extended by one year up to a total maximum of ten by virtual of the transfer and the gaining Registrar is charged for that additional year, even in cases where a full year is not added because of the ten year maximum limitation.
• Bulk Transfer (with ICANN approval): Bulk transfers with ICANN approval may be made during the Auto-Renew Grace Period according to the procedures in Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. The expiration dates of transferred registrations are not affected. The losing Registrar's account is charged for the Auto-Renew.

Transfer Grace Period

The Transfer Grace Period is a specified number of calendar days following the transfer of a domain according to Part A of Exhibit B to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. The current value of the Transfer Grace Period is five calendar days. If a Delete, Extend, or Transfer occurs within that five calendar days, the following rules apply:

• Delete: If a domain is deleted within the Transfer Grace Period, the sponsoring Registrar at the time of the deletion receives a credit of the transfer fee. The domain is deleted from the Registry database and is and is moved to the Redemption Grace Period (that is to the status: Pending Delete—Restorable) as described in Section J, Appendix C immediately available for registration by any Registrar. See Overlapping Grace Period for a description of overlapping grace period exceptions.
• Extend (Renew): If a domain is extended within the Transfer Grace Period, there is no credit for the transfer. The Registrar's account will be charged for the number of years the registration is extended. The expiration date of the domain is extended by the number of years, up to a maximum of ten years, as specified by the registrar's requested Extend operation.
• Transfer (other than ICANN-approved bulk transfer): If a domain is transferred within the Transfer Grace Period, there is no credit. The expiration date of the domain is extended by one year up to a maximum term of ten years.
• Bulk Transfer (with ICANN approval): Bulk transfers with ICANN approval may be made during the Transfer Grace Period according to the procedures in Part B of Exhibit B to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. The expiration dates of transferred registrations are not affected. The losing Registrar's account is charged for the Transfer operation that occurred prior to the Bulk Transfer.

Bulk Transfer Grace Period

There is no grace period associated with Bulk Transfer operations according to Part B of Exhibit D to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. Upon completion of the Bulk Transfer, any associated fee is not refundable.

Overlapping Grace Periods

If an operation is performed that falls into more than one grace period, the actions appropriate for each grace period apply except as follows:

• If a domain is deleted within the Add Grace Period and the Extend Grace Period, then the registrar is credited the registration and extend amounts, taking into account the number of years for which the registration and extend were done. The domain is removed from the Registry database and is immediately available for registration by any Registrar.
• If a domain is auto-renewed, then extended, and then deleted within the Extend Grace Period, the registrar will be credited for the Auto-Renew and the number of years for the extension. The years that were added to the Registered Name’s expiration as a result of the auto-renewal and extension are removed. The deleted Registered Name is moved to the Redemption Grace Period (that is, to the status: Pending Delete – Restorable) as described in Section J, Appendix C.

Overlap Exception

• If a domain is deleted within one or several Transfer Grace Periods, then only the current sponsoring Registrar is credited for the transfer amount. For example if a domain is transferred from Registrar A to Registrar B and then to Registrar C and finally deleted by Registrar C within the Transfer Grace Period of the first, second and third transfers, then only the last transfer is credited to Registrar C.
• If a domain is extended/renewed within the Transfer Grace Period, then the current Registrar's account is charged for the number of years the registration is extended.

Note: If several billable operations, including transfers, are performed on a domain and the domain is deleted within the grace periods of each of those operations, only those operations that were performed after the latest transfer, including the latest transfer, are credited to the current Registrar.

Pending Periods

Transfer Pending Period

The Transfer Pending Period is a specified number of calendar days following a request from a registrar (registrar A) to transfer a domain in which the current registrar of the domain (registrar B) may explicitly approve or reject the transfer request. The current value of the Transfer Pending Period is five calendar days for all registrars. The transfer will be finalized upon receipt of explicit approval or rejection from the current registrar (registrar B). If the current registrar (registrar B) does not explicitly approve or reject the request initiated by registrar A, the registry will approve the request automatically after the end of the Transfer Pending Period. During the Transfer Pending Period:

• RRP TRANSFER request or RRP RENEW request is denied.
• AUTO-RENEW is allowed.
• RRP DELETE request is denied.
• Bulk Transfer operations are allowed.

Delete Pending Period

See, Section J, Additional Services, Redemption Grace Period – Stage 1, Implementation, below.

The Delete Pending Period is a specified number of calendar days following a request to delete a domain in which the domain is placed in HOLD status without removing the domain from the Registry database. The current value of the Delete Pending Period for all registrars is five calendar days.

Registrars may request retraction of a delete request by calling Afilias Customer Service staff within the Delete Pending Period. The Registrar will need to provide the security phrase to the Afilias staff member prior to the staff member performing this retraction. This operation cannot be performed by the Registrar. Retraction requests processed during the delete pending period are currently at no cost to the registrar. If, by the end of the Delete Pending Period, no action is taken the domain will be deleted from the Registry database and returned to the pool of domain names available for registration by any registrar.

• EPP Renew or Auto-Renew requests are ignored.
• EPP Transfer request is denied.
• Bulk Transfer operations are allowed.

Earlier draft:

11 May 2001
26 April 2001

Page Updated 23-Oct-2003
©2001  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. All rights reserved.