27 Registration Life Cycle

Prototypical answer:

Registration Lifecycle

Next we will detail the registration lifecycle for domains under the extension. The proposed lifecycle is similar to the one already present in gTLDs like .COM.

Lifespan of domains under the extension: Registration (1 to 10 years). A domain name can be registered for a span of 1 to 10 years.

Periods of a domain name

1. Active Period: A domain name becomes ACTIVE immediately upon being registered, meaning that it is no longer available for registration, and the information is published to the production database. The WHOIS record of the newly registered domain is created upon registration. A domain name can be active for 1-10 years depending on the duration of the registration term selected by the registrant.

2. Restore Period: After a domain is deleted, (except for a deletion in an Add Grace Period as detailed further) the domain will enter a Redemption or Restore period. During this period the domain may be restored. The effect of this process is the restoration of the domain to the zone file, and the renewal of the domain for 1 year.

3. PendingDelete Period: After a domain has finished the restore period, the domain enters the Pending Delete Period. During this Period the domain may not be modified by any reason. The domain will be purged from the system once the Pending Delete phase finalizes.


Diagram of the Domain Name Life Cycle

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Grace Periods

Grace periods are available for billable EPP commands to account for errors and support the auto-renewal model. The applicable grace period information is returned in the domain info EPP XML response. The Grace Period is a specified number of calendar days following the a transaction on a domain. The proposed Grace Period is 5 calendar days, except for the Auto-Renew Grace Period that is proposed to be 45. Within 5 days the behavior of the domain will be ruled by the following policies.

Add Grace Period

- Delete. If a domain name is deleted within the Add Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar will be refunded the amount of the registration fee. The domain name is immediately deleted from the registry database and available for registration by any registrar. If a domain name is deleted after the 5 calendar day grace period expires, it will be placed in the Redemption Period Status for 30 calendar days and then deleted via the system after going through a 5 calendar day Pending Delete Period.
- Renew. If a domain name is renewed within the Add Grace Period, and deleted afterwards, the grace period will loose effect. There will be no grace period credit for the registration or the renewal. The sponsoring registrar will be charged for the number of years the domain name is renewed up to a maximum resulting registration period of not more than 10 years.
- Transfer. A domain name may not be transferred within the Add Grace Period. Registrants are prohibited from changing registrars within the first 60 days of the initial registration of the domain name.

Add Grace Period Consensus Policy - Domain tasting

If a domain is deleted within the Add Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar is credited for the amount of the registration fee. However, the Add Grace Period Consensus Policy limits the number of deletes within the grace period that are allowed per registrar. It is the intention of this Policy is to limit the behavior known as “domain tasting” through modifications to the Add Grace Period (AGP) process. The Add Grace Period Consensus Policy can be found on the ICANN website at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄tlds⁄agp-policy-17dec08-en.htm

Registry will not offer any refund to an ICANN accredited registrar for any domain names deleted during the AGP that exceed (i) 10% of that registrarʹs net new registrations (calculated as the total number of domain name registrations of one-year through ten-year registrations) in that month, or (ii) fifty (50) domain names, whichever is greater, unless an exemption has been granted by the registry. A registrar may seek an exemption from the registry from the application of such restrictions in a specific month under special circumstances. A report would have to be presented to the registry by the registrar requesting for the exemption stating the circumstances and that the registrar was unable to prevent the deletions from taking place. The acceptance of any exemption will be at the sole and reasonable discretion of the registry, however special circumstances which reoccur regularly for the same registrar will not be deemed acceptable and will be rejected as a reason.

Example:

If a registrar has 1,000 net new registrations, had its account with the registry auto-debited for US$5,000 (based on a price of US$5 per domain name registration), and had 250 AGP deletes, the Registrar would be entitled to a refund of US$500 for 100 AGP deletes (10% of 1,000 net new registrations at US$5 per domain name registration). The registrar would not be eligible for a refund of US$750 for the additional 150 deletes made.

Renew Grace Period

If a Delete, Renew, or Transfer occurs within 5 calendar days of a renewal, the following rules apply:

- Delete: If a domain name is deleted within the Renew Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar will be refunded the renewal fee, only if the renewal was not made within another Grace Period. The domain then enters the Redemption Grace Period unless the deletion occurs during the 5 day Add Grace Period.
- Renew: A domain name can be renewed up to a total of 10 years. If a domain name is renewed within the Renew Grace Period there will be no grace period. The sponsoring registrar will be charged for each of the years of the subsequent renewal.
- Transfer: If a domain name is transferred within the Renew Grace Period, the number of years that was renewed for the domain name will still be valid. There will be no Grace Period of the transfer is made within the Renewal Grace Period. Still, a transfer will include a renewal and may not be possible if the transfer+renewal were to extend the domainʹs expiration date to a date further to 10 years in the future.

Transfer Grace Period

If a Delete, Renew, or Transfer operation occurs within 5 calendar days of a transfer process, the following rules apply:

- Delete. If a domain is deleted within the Transfer Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar will be refunded the transfer (renewal) fee.
- Renew. If a domain is renewed within the Transfer Grace Period, and then deleted, there will be no grace period. The registrar will be charged for the number of years of the renewal.
- Transfer. A domain can´t be transferred to another registrar within the Transfer Grace Period. Domains may not be transferred to another registrar within 60 days of the last transfer.

Auto-renew Grace Period

If the sponsoring registrar does not renew the domain name prior to its expiration date, the registry automatically renews the domain for 1 year. The renewal of the domain name is executed by the registry system the day prior to the expiration date via a batch process. The sponsoring registrar has 45 calendar days to delete the domain and receive a refund for the domain name renewal fee. This way it is similar to a Renewal Grace Period but for 45 days.

If a Delete, Renew, or Transfer operation occurs within the 45 calendar days, the following rules apply:

- Delete. If a domain name is deleted within the Auto-Renew Grace Period, the sponsoring registrar will be refunded the renewal fees. The domain will enter redemption status for 30 days, and then will enter pendingDelete status for 5 days.
- Renew. A domain name can be renewed up to a total of 10 years. If a domain name is renewed within the Auto-Renew Grace Period, there will be no grace period.
- Transfer. If a domain name transfer is approved or auto-approved within the Auto-renewal Grace Period, there will be no refunds for the loosing registrar. The winning registrar may opt for the Transfer Grace Period.

Notes:

For any of the above grace periods, if a domain name is deleted and then restored then the domain name is no longer considered to be in any grace period.


Explanation of the Redemption Period: The proposed Redemption Period is 30 calendar days. When a domain name is deleted outside of the Add Grace period, it is placed on redemptionPeriod status for 30 days. The Redemption Period status does NOT apply to domain names deleted within the 5 day Add Grace Period. If a domain name is deleted within the 5 day Add Grace Period, it is immediately purged from the registry, and immediately made available for registration. The Redemption Period is designed to help registrars defend against inadvertent deletions. By placing the domain name on Redemption Period status for 30 days, the registrar has a sufficient time to realise the deletion and restore it, and not worry about the domain name being purged from the registry. During the Redemption period the domains will be removed from the zone and will not resolve. No modifications or tranasactions on a domain may be executed while it is in Redemption period. The only process that may be executed is the Restoration process detailed next.

Restore process: A domain stays in the redemptionPeriod status for 30 days OR until a successful RESTORE command attempts to restore the domain name to an active status. When a RESTORE command is executed on a domai name, RESTORE report is expected within 7 days. If a RESTORE report is not received the domain will enter a 30 day Redemption period again. If a RESTORE command and a RESTORE report are executed within the appropriate timing the domain will be reinstated to the zone file and renewed for 1 year. Registrar must pay for the cost of the RESTORE and the RENEW of the domain.

Explanation fo the Pending Delete Period: After the Redemption period is over, the domain enters the Pending Delete Period for 5 calendar days. During this period no modification is possible to the domain. After 5 days the domain will be purged and made available for registration again.


Pending Periods

Pending Periods are defined as a specified number of calendar days following a specific operation during which certain operations are prohibited. There are four Pending Periods - Redemption Period, Pending Restore, Pending Delete and pending Transfer. The following subsections define the length of each pending period and the operations that are allowed within each pending period.

Redemption Period - redemptionPeriod: When a delete domain request is successful, the domain is placed on redemptionPeriod status for 30 days (Unless the delete was executed during an Add Grace Period). During this 30-day Redemption Period, the domain can be restored if the registrar submits a successful Restore request and Restore Report. (as explained earlier)

Pending Restore - pendingRestore: A successful RESTORE command on a domain chages its status to pendingRestore. This status matches the 7 day period in which a RESTORE report may be submitted for the definite reinstatement of the domain. The pendingRestore period will last for 7 days or until a RESTORE report is submitted. When the RESTORE report is received the status of the domain changes to active or OK.

Pending Delete Period - pendingDelete - The proposed Pending Delete Period is 5 calendar days. A domain name that is deleted outside of the Add Grace Period, and does not have a RESTORE command issued during the 30 day Redemption Period is placed into the Pending Delete Period. As explained before, once the domain enters the pendingDelete status, no modification can be made on the domain (no EPP operations can be performed on domains with the pendingDelete status). The domain stays in pendingDelete status for 5 days and then it is purged from the system at the end of the 5 days.

Pending Transfer Period: The proposed Pending Transfer Period is 5 calendar days. A successful TRANSFER REQUEST command will place the domain on pendingTransfer status for 5 days or until the transfer is explicitly approved, rejected, cancelled, or auto-approved. The sponsoring registrar (also referred to as the losing registrar) has 5 calendar days to approve or reject the request. If the potential winning registrar receives an approve response, then the domain is automatically transferred. If the potential gaining registrar receives a reject response, then the pendingTransfer status is removed. If the potential gaining registrar does not receive any response by the end of 5 calendar days, then the request is automatically approved. Domains in pendingTransfer period may not be deleted, renewed or requested again for transfer. A rejection is necessary before any of this actions may apply again.

Special notes:

About domains with status Registry-Lock: This status can only be set by the registry. A domain name with this status cannot be transferred, modified or deleted by its registrar. The domain can however be renewed. The domain will resolve as it is included in the registry zone files if the domain has been delegated to at least one name server.

About domains with status Registry Hold: This status can only be set by the registry. A domain with this status cannot be transferred, modified or deleted by its registrar. The domain can however be renewed. The domain will not resolve as it is not included in the registry zone files.

Resource and Operation Plan

On-hand resources:

- Qinetics has served domain registration services for .HK, .SG, .MY, .CD, etc. with a long track record of success. Technical resources are on hand for the full implementation of the proposed Registry.
- Registry team has run for almost 3 years Domain Registration Services that have been very successful in Colombia and in more than 10 countries around the world. Registry team will be comprised of experienced executives in the domain registration business from Central Comercializadora de Internet (ICANN Accredited Registrar). Resources are on hand for all the non technical operations of the Registry. On hand operational non technical resources include:

- Project manager
- Two support specialists
- Technical leader

These resources are currently part of the team that runs Central Comercializadora de Internet (ICANN Accredited Registrar).

Resource activity plan:


Qinetics will deploy the Registry Service of Registry using its existing system and infrastructure. During the implementation of Registry, new server hardware will be provisioned for the Registry service that will alow for the configuration of the domain life cycle.

The following human resources will be used:

- Project Manager
- Datacenter Engineer
- System Administrator
- Database Administrator
- Software Developer⁄Application support
- Test Engineer

The Data Center Engineer will perform the server provisioning and installation of OS. Once the hardware is provisioned, System Administrator shall continue to install the required software and perform security configurations. The assigned Software Developer will configure the rules that apply for the specific lifecycle of the domains. Once done, the Test Engineer will perform rigorous testing procedures to ensure the system performs according to specifications. When testing is completed, the registration system shall be hand-over to System Administrator to perform deployment to production environment. Throughout the process, a Project Manager is assigned to perform project management and overall control on the implementation. The Project Manager will conduct training to the registry users on the specific behavior of domains under the registry.

After deployment

The system will be in maintenance mode after the System is deployed. Any issues regarding the lifecycle of the domain will be supported by general helpdesk support for enquiries. Any support issue related to the lifecycle of domains will be escalated to the Application Support Engineer for troubleshooting. Whenever there is a support ticket, Application Support Engineer and System Administrator will further escalate the support request base on severity. The emergency response team will be triggered whenever there is a catastrophic scenario at the highest severity.

From the Registry side, Project manager, support specialists, and Technical Leader will handle issues related to administrative control, non technical relationship with Registrars, relationship with ICANN, relationship with providers such as Qinetics, Policy monitoring and Management, etc.

Bug tracking

After an issue has been identified, and once a remedy is available, the Test Engineer will perform testing on the fixes before deployment by System Administrator. During maintenance, Qintetics will commit 4 resources for the 24 x 7 helpdesk, 4 data center engineers, 2 application support engineers, 1 support manager, 1 test engineer and 2 system administrators.

Continuous management

As part of ongoing policy changes, a team of software developers is available for any standards upgrades and necessary changes to the lifecycle. Changes will trigger the change request procedure in accordance to CMMI standards.

Similar gTLD applications: (2)