ICANN is pleased to announce the implementation of the Expired Registration Recovery Policy ("ERRP"). This policy was developed from the Generic Name Supporting Organization ("GNSO")'s Post Expiration Domain Name Recovery ("PEDNR") recommendations, which were adopted by ICANN's Board of Directors on 28 October 2011. The policy was drafted in consultation with the GNSO's PEDNR Implementation Review Team and was posted for public comment on 11 October 2012.
The ERRP is expected to promote better understanding of registrants' options and help alleviate common issues related to the expiration of gTLD registrations. This policy is intended to help align registrant expectations with registrar practices by establishing certain minimum communications requirements and making renewal and redemption of domain name registrations uniformly available in prescribed circumstances.
Some of the most notable provisions of the ERRP include the following (The actual language of the ERRP is binding on ICANN-accredited registrars and gTLD registries, not the summary provided here.):
- To help prevent unintended non-renewal of domain name registrations, registrars will be required to notify registered name holders of the expiration of their registrations at least two times: approximately one month prior to the expiration date and, again, approximately one week prior to the expiration date.
- All gTLD registries must offer a Redemption Grace Period of 30 days immediately following the deletion of a registration. Sponsored gTLDs are excluded, and not required to offer a Redemption Grace Period. If the registry offers restore from Redemption Grace Periods the registrar/ISP is required to offer this service to their clients.
- To promote consumer choice and awareness, registrars/resellers must make their renewal and restore fees reasonably available to domain owners.
- The ERRP requires that the resolution of the domain name is interrupted for a period of time after expiration, but before deletion of the name to help make the registrant aware of the expiration of its name. Additionally, any parking page hosted by the registrar at the expired domain name must include or point to renewal instructions.
All ICANN-accredited registrars and gTLD registries are required to comply with the Expired Registration Recovery Policy by no later than 31 August 2013.
Consistent with the recommendations of the GNSO's PEDNR Working Group, ICANN is in the process of developing educational materials in consultation with interested stakeholders to help the community better understand this policy and how it applies to them.