[gnso-irtpc] For review - IRTP Part C Recommendation Charter Question A

[Marika Konings <marika.konings@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear All,

To facilitate review, please find below the first part of the recommendation 
section in relation to Charter Question A, including the edits suggested by 
Mikey on the call last week. I've highlighted in yellow those parts that 
represent significant changes compared to the Initial Report. Please feel free 
to share any comments / edits you may have with the mailing list.

Best regards,

Marika

=====================================

Recommendation for Charter Question A:


Recommendation #1 – The IRTP Part C WG recommends the adoption of change of 
registrant consensus policy, which outlines the rules and requirements for a 
change of registrant of a domain name registration. Such a policy should follow 
the requirements and steps as outlined hereunder in the section ‘proposed 
change of registrant process for gTLDs’.



Proposed “Change of Registrant” Process for gTLDs

Having concluded that there are benefits in developing a standalone process for 
a “change of control” or “change of registrant”, the WG recommends the 
following requirements that such a change of registrant process should meet. 
These include:

 *   Both the Prior Registrant and the New Registrant need to authorize the 
change of registrant. Such authorization could also be provided by the Prior 
Registrant in the form of pre-approval or via a proxy. However such 
pre-approvals must be highly secured and constructed in a way that prevents an 
unauthorized person from requesting the action based exclusively on account 
credentials that may have been compromised. For example Registrars may want to 
consider “out of band” authentication based on information that cannot be 
learned from within the account or publicly available resources such as Whois. 
The Working Group recommends an IRTP-C Implementation Review Team to address 
questions on this and other recommendations, and assist Registrars and Staff to 
implement this recommendation in accordance with the intention of the Working 
Group.
 *   A change of registrant cannot take place simultaneously with a change of 
registrar although they can be made to appear that way to registrants in a 
registrars users interface. If both changes need to be made, it is advised that 
the change of registrar (IRTP) be completed prior to initiating the change of 
registrant in order to avoid triggering the proposed 60-day inter-registrar 
transfer lock(see below).
 *   The WG also noted that any such process should not create an unfair 
advantage/disadvantage for any of the segments active in the domain name 
industry and noted that it should neither prevent innovation and 
differentiation amongst registrars.

The Working Group also discussed extensively whether there should be any 
restrictions in place that would prevent a change of registrar immediately 
following a change of registrant (see the Initial Report) and recommends that a 
domain name cannot be transferred to another registrar for 60 days to protect 
registrants against possible harms arising from domain hijacking. However the 
option to opt out of this restriction (with standard notice to all registrants 
of the associated risks) is provided in order to meet the needs of registrants 
who are concerned about the negative effect on movability of domain name 
registrations. If a registrar chooses to offer an option for registrants to opt 
out, the process to remove this restriction must be must be highly secured and 
constructed in a way that prevents an unauthorized person from requesting the 
action based exclusively on account credentials that may have been compromised.

As a result of these deliberations, the WG has developed the following proposed 
process for a change of registrant:

STEP 0:       If the Prior and New Registrants are transferring the domain to a 
new registrar in conjunction with this Change of Registrant process, it is 
suggested that they first complete the Inter-Registrar Transfer in order to 
avoid triggering the default 60-day lock associated with the Change of 
Registrant process. Note that the Inter Registrar Transfer policy is revised so 
as to not permit changes to Registrant information at the same time as an 
inter-registrar transfer. The Gaining Registrar must validate this prior to 
completing the transfer.
STEP 1:       Both Registrants authorize the change

·       Either the Prior or Gaining Registrant produces and transmits Change of 
Registrant Credentials to the other Registrant

·       The other Registrant acknowledges thereceipt of credentials and 
authorizes the transfer
STEP 2:      Registrar determines that both Prior and New Registrant have 
authorized the Change of Registrant and that the domain is eligible for Change 
of Registrant (i.e. there are no locks or other restrictions on the domain)
 STEP 3:       Registrar changes registrant
 STEP 4:       Registrar notifies Prior and New Registrant of the change that 
has taken place
 STEP 5:       Registrar places a lock on the domain to prevent Inter-Registrar 
transfers of the domain for 60 days, unless the Prior Registrant has opted out 
of this requirement after having received a standard notice as to the 
associated risks.