27 Registration Life Cycle

Prototypical answer:

Nominet will implement a lifecycle for dot WALES domains which is based around Request for Comments (RFCs) 5730, 5731 and 3915. RFCs 5730 and 5731 define the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) interface for domain names including domain name registration, updates, transfers, renewals and deletes. RFC 3915 defines grace periods for each of these - allowing chargeable events such as registrations and renewals to be undone.

ICANN accredited registrars who have signed a dot WALES registry⁄registrar agreement will be able to register domain names that are not already registered for a period of one to ten years. Registrars will be able to renew their domain names to extend the registration period and may also delete domain names. If a domain name reaches the end of its registration period then it will be automatically renewed for one year.

The lifecycle for dot WALES domains is shown in the state diagram in Figure 27.1 of the attachment Q27_Registration_Lifecycle_Figures.pdf. Domain name states, which represent the stage that a domain name is at in the lifecycle, are shown in boxes. Trigger points, representing events that move a domain name onto a new stage in the lifecycle, are shown by arrows on the diagram. A domain name can also change state as the result of the passage of time. State changes defined in the Uniform Rapid Suspension System are considered exceptions to the state diagram, further details are set out in the penultimate section of this response. Domain name states are described below:

State: available for registration

A domain name in this state is not registered and may be registered on a first come first served basis by a registrar. The only EPP command that may be performed on the domain name is a create command to register the domain name.

State: registered

This is the default state for a registered domain name. The registrar of record may use EPP to perform update, renew, transfer or delete commands.

State: addPeriod

A domain name in this state has been registered within the last 5 days. This state differs only from the ʺregisteredʺ state in that the registrar of record may cancel the domain name and receive a credit for the registration fee, subject to agreed limits.

When a domain name has been in the ʺaddPeriodʺ state for 5 days, the ʺaddPeriodʺ state is removed and the ʺregisteredʺ state is added.

State: renewPeriod

A domain name in this state has been renewed by the registrar within the last 5 days. This state differs only from the ʺregisteredʺ state in that the registrar of record may cancel the domain name and receive a credit for the renewal fee, subject to agreed limits.

When a domain name has been in the ʺrenewPeriodʺ state for 5 days, the ʺrenewPeriodʺ state is removed and the ʺregisteredʺ state is added.

State: autoRenewPeriod

A domain name in this state has been auto-renewed by the registry within the last 45 days. This state differs only from the ʺregisteredʺ state in that the registrar of record may cancel the domain name and receive a credit for the renewal fee, subject to agreed limits.

When a domain name has been in the ʺautoRenewPeriodʺ state for 45 days, the ʺautoRenewPeriodʺ state is removed and the ʺregisteredʺ state is added.

State: redemptionPeriod

A domain name is placed in this state after a registrar cancels it using the delete EPP command. A domain name in this state has been removed from the zone file and remains in the state for 30 days. The registrar of record will be able to use EPP to perform a restore command to remove the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state. No other EPP commands may be performed upon the domain name while it is in the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state.

When a domain name has been in the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state for 30 days, the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state is removed and the ʺpendingDeleteʺ state is added.

State: pendingDelete

A domain name in this state has been removed from the zone file and will be made available for registration after 5 days. No EPP commands may be performed on the domain in this time.

When a domain name has been in the ʺpendingDeleteʺ state for 5 days, the ʺpendingDeleteʺ state is removed and the ʺavailable for registrationʺ state is added.


Trigger points represent the events that cause a domain name to change state - that is to move to a new stage in the lifecycle. The trigger points are described below:

Trigger point: Create

This trigger point represents the registration of new domain names. Any registrar will be able to use the EPP create command to register a new dot WALES domain name subject to the following pre-conditions:

- the domain name is a sub-domain of dot WALES
- the domain name is in the ʺavailable for registrationʺ state and so not already registered
- the domain name is not reserved
- the domain name does not have hyphens in the third and fourth characters
- the domain name label does not begin or end with a hyphen.

If the above pre-conditions hold, a registration request will be successful and the domain name will be added to the registry database. The registration period and expiry date will be set according to the period specified in the EPP create command. Following this, if the domain name has nameservers, a dynamic update will be made to add the domain name to the zone file.

All registration requests will be performed immediately and there will be no pending state.

Following registration, the domain name will move into the ʺaddPeriodʺ state for 5 days.

Trigger point: renew

A dot WALES domain name will be renewable, at any time by the registrar of record using the EPP renew command, subject to the following pre-conditions:

- The resultant expiry date for the domain name is less than 10 years in the future.
- The domain name does not have either clientRenewProhibited or serverRenewProhibited locks set.
- The domain name does not have either the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ or ʺpendingDeleteʺ states set.

If these preconditions hold then the renewal will take place and the expiry date for the domain name will be extended by the period specified in the renewal request. The ʺrenewPeriodʺ state is added to the domain name for five days.

Trigger point: auto-renew

A dot WALES domain name will be automatically renewed by the registry if the following pre-conditions hold:

- The domain name has expired, i.e. the expiry date for the domain name has passed.
- The domain name does not have either clientRenewProhibited or serverRenewProhibited locks set.

The expiry date will be moved forward by one year and the domain name moves into the ʺautoRenewPeriodʺ state for 45 days.

Trigger point: delete

A registrar will be able to use the EPP delete command to cancel a domain name at any time, subject to the following pre-conditions:

- The registrar is the registrar of record for the domain name.
- The domain name does not have either serverDeleteProhibited or clientDeleteProhibited locks set.

If the domain name has an ʺaddPeriodʺ state then the registration fee will be credited to the registrar (subject to agreed limits on this). If the domain name has an ʺautoRenewPeriodʺ or ʺrenewPeriodʺ states set then the renewal fee will be credited to the registrar (subject to agreed limits).

Following cancellation, the domain name will be removed from the zone file. If the domain name had the ʺautoRenewPeriodʺ state prior to cancellation then it will enter the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state for 30 days. For all other cancellations, the domain will hve the ʺpendingDeleteʺ state added to it for five days.

Trigger point: restore

The registrar of record will be able to request the restoration of a dot WALES domain name that is in the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state. This will remove the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ state and will replace the domain name in the zone file. Any credited renewal fees will be recharged to the registrar.

The restore request from the registrar must be in two phases. Initially the registrar must make an EPP restore request. If this is successful then the registrar must submit a restore report to fully complete the restore. This must be received within 5 days or before the redemption Period is complete, whichever is soonest.


Domain Transfers

Domain transfers follow the process described in ICANN policy on transfer of registrations between registrars.

When a domain name is in the ʺregisteredʺ state, any registrar will be able to issue a transfer request to move sponsorship of the domain to them. Transfer requests take up to 5 days to complete, during which time the registrar of record will be able to reject the transfer and prevent it from completing.

The transfer process state diagram is shown in Figure 27.2 of the attachment Q27_Registration_Lifecycle_Figures.pdf. Domain name states are shown in boxes with arrows depicting the events that trigger change of state. The states and trigger points are described below.

State: registered

Any currently registered domain name may be transferred.

State: transfer pending

A domain name in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state has had a transfer request submitted within the last 5 days and the registrar of record has neither accepted nor rejected the request.

When a domain name has been in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state for 5 days, the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state is removed and the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state is added.

State: transfer accepted

A domain name in the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state has had a transfer request accepted, either directly by the registrar of record positively accepting the request using EPP or indirectly by the domain spending 5 days in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state.

Trigger point: transfer request

A registrar will be able to request a transfer of a domain name at any time, subject to the following pre-conditions:


- The registrar has signed a dot WALES registry-registrar agreement.
- The registrar can provide the correct authInfo value.
- The domain name does not have the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state set.
- The domain name does not have either the clientTransferProhibited or serverTransferProhibited locks set.
- The domain name does not have either the ʺredemptionPeriodʺ or ʺpendingDeleteʺ states set.

The ʺtransfer pendingʺ state will be added to the domain name for five days and the registrar of record is notified.

Trigger point: reject transfer

The registrar of record will be able to reject a transfer request when the domain name is in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state. The ʺtransfer pendingʺ state will then be removed and the domain name returned to the ʺregisteredʺ state.

Trigger point: accept transfer

The registrar of record will be able to accept a transfer request when the domain name is in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state. The ʺtransfer pendingʺ state will then be removed and the domain name set to the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state set.

Trigger point: transfer

This trigger point will happen immediately after a domain name has the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state set.

The domain name will be moved to the registrar that requested the transfer, the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state will be removed and the domain name returned to the ʺregisteredʺ state.

If a registration period was specified in the request, and adding that period to the current expiry date will result in the expiry date being less than 10 years in the future, then the domain will be renewed for the period requested. The renew trigger point in the registration lifecycle described above will be triggered.


Domain name attribute updates

A registrar will be able to update the attributes of a dot WALES domain name at any time, subject to the following preconditions:

- The registrar is the registrar of record for the domain name.
- The domain name does not have either clientUpdateProhibited or serverUpdateProhibited locks set.
- The domain name does not have either ʺredemptionPeriodʺ or ʺpendingDeleteʺ states set.

The registrar will be able to change the nameservers, add or remove contacts, or add or remove a lock.

If the clientUpdateProhibited lock is set and the other preconditions above hold then the registrar of record will be able to remove the clientUpdateProhibited lock only.

As the registry, we will make updates to dot WALES domain names only in exceptional circumstances such as in the event of a court order. This may include a transfer or addition of one of the registry set domain name locks described below.


Domain name locks

The registry and registrar of record will be able to place locks upon the domain name to prevent EPP commands from succeeding. The registrar of record may place the following locks upon a domain name:

- clientUpdateProhibited to prevent update of the domain nameʹs attributes;
- clientDeleteProhibited to prevent cancellation of the domain name;
- clientTransferProhibited to prevent transfer of the domain name;
- clientRenewProhibited to prevent renewal of the domain name; and
- clientHold to prevent publication of the domain name in the zone file.

The registry may place any of the following locks upon a domain name:

- serverUpdateProhibited to prevent update of the domain nameʹs attributes;
- serverDeleteProhibited to prevent cancellation of the domain name;
- serverTransferProhibited to prevent transfer of the domain name;
- serverRenewProhibited to prevent renewal of the domain name; and
- serverHold to prevent publication of the domain name in the zone file.

Uniform Rapid Suspension

Nominet will adhere to the URS procedure (currently in draft form). Within 24 hours of receipt of notification by email from the URS Provider we will lock the domain name. This lock will prevent all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion of the domain name. The domain name will continue to resolve.

In the event of a URS determination in favour of the Complainant, on notifcation of the determination Nominet will suspend the domain name for the balance of the registration period. The WHOIS output will reflect the requirements set out in the URS. The Complainant will be given the option to extend the registration period for a further year at commercial rates.



Resourcing plan

The registry systems supporting the lifecycle in this document have been fully developed. We have a development team of 16 staff, an infrastructure team of 15 staff and a customer support team of 24 staff. All these staff are experienced in running the dot UK services. We will dedicate the following resources and time from these existing teams, as well as additional resources where appropriate, to the following post launch maintenance tasks:

6 months immediately following launch

- Customer support: 8 hours per week
- Technical support: 1 hour per week

Total resource in the 6 months immediately following launch: 9 hours per week

Post launch business as usual

- Customer support: 4 hours per week
- Technical support: 1 hour per week

Total post launch business as usual resource: 5 hours per week

Similar gTLD applications: (1)