27 Registration Life Cycle

Prototypical answer:

Question 27 - Registration Lifecycle

Nominet, the registry provider, has implemented a lifecycle for dot BBC domains which is based around Request for Comments (RFCs) 5730 and 5731. These RFCs define the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) interface for domain names including domain name registrations, updates, transfers, renewals and deletes.

Because the registry is closed, grace periods, as defined in RFC 3915, have not been implemented for dot BBC.

Registrars who have signed a dot BBC registry⁄registrar agreement will be able to register domain names that are not already registered for a period of one to 10 years. Registrars are 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 is automatically renewed for one year. If a domain is cancelled then it becomes immediately available for re-registration.

The lifecycle for dot BBC domain names is shown in the state diagram in Figure 27.1 of 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: Renewed

A domain name is in this state immediately after it has been successfully renewed, either by the registrar or automatically by the registry at expiry.

Trigger points represent the events that cause a domain name to change state, that is to move to an 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, that has signed a registry-registrar agreement for dot BBC, may use the EPP create command to register a new domain name subject to the following pre-conditions:

- The domain name is a sub-domain of dot BBC.
- The domain name is in the ʺavailable for registrationʺ state and so not already registered.
- The domain name is not reserved.
- The domain name consists only of the lower case ascii letters a-z, the numbers 0-9 or a hyphen -.
- 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 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 are performed immediately and there is no pending state.

Following registration, the domain name moves into the ʺregisteredʺ state.

Trigger point: renew

A domain name may be renewed, 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.


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 domain name moves into the ʺrenewedʺ state.

Trigger point: auto-renew

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

- The expiry date for the domain name has passed.
- The domain name does not have either clientRenewProhibited or serverRenewProhibited status values set.

The expiry date will be moved forward by one year and the domain name is placed into the ʺrenewedʺ state.


Trigger point: complete-renew

This trigger point occurs immediately after a domain name is placed into the ʺrenewedʺ state. The domain name is placed back into the ʺregisteredʺ state.


Trigger point: delete

A registrar may use the EPP delete command to cancel a domain name at any time provided the following pre-conditions hold:


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

Once a domain name has been deleted, it is placed into the ʺavailable for registrationʺ state and is immediately available for re-registration.


Grace Periods

Grace periods are defined in RFC 3915 and add registration states and trigger points to implement time periods following registrations, renewals, transfers and cancellations where the command can be reversed without penalty. Because dot BBC is a closed registry, there is no penalty for undoing any of these commands at any time and grace periods are therefore not required. If, at any time, dot BBC is opened up then grace periods can be easily added.


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 may 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 may 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 may request a transfer for a domain name at any time provided the following preconditions are true:

- The registrar has signed a dot BBC registry-registrar agreement
- The registrar can provide the correct authInfo value
- The domain name does not have the transfer pending status set
- The domain name does not have either the clientTransferProhibited or serverTransferProhibited locks set.


The transfer pending status is added to the domain name for five days and the registrar of record is notified. If, after five days, the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state is still set, the domain name is moved to the requesting registrar and the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state is removed.

Trigger point: reject transfer

The registrar of record may reject a transfer request when the domain name is in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state. The ʺtransfer pendingʺ state is removed and the domain name returns to the ʺregisteredʺ state.

Trigger point: accept transfer

The registrar of record may accept a transfer request when the domain name is in the ʺtransfer pendingʺ state. The ʺtransfer pendingʺ state is removed and the domain name has the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state added.

Trigger point: transfer

This trigger point happens immediately after the domain name has the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state set.

The domain name is moved to the registrar that requested the transfer, the ʺtransfer acceptedʺ state is removed and the domain name returns 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 is renewed for the period requested. The renew trigger point in the registration lifecycle described above is triggered.


Domain name attribute updates

A registrar may update the attributes of a dot BBC domain name at any time provided the following preconditions are true:

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

The registrar may 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 may remove the clientUpdateProhibited lock only.

Nominet would make updates to dot BBC domain names upon direct request by the BBC themselves. This may include a transfer or addition of one of the registry set domain locks listed below.


Domain name locks

The registry and registrar of record may 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
- 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
- serverHold to prevent publication of the domain name in the zone file.


Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS)

The Registry Operator will adhere to the URS procedure (currently in draft form). Within 24 hours of receipt of notification by email from the URS Provider the Registry Operator will lock 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 the Registry Operator 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

Nominetʹs registry systems supporting the lifecycle in this document have been fully developed. Nominet has large development, infrastructure and customer support teams experienced in running all its dot UK services. Nominet 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:

Post launch:

- Technical support: 1 hour per week by a customer support advisers

Total post launch resource: 1 hour per week.

This support level is consistent with the number of registrars and domain names that will be registered in the BBC domain.

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