[ICANN]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2015-09-24-en ________________________________ Transfer Policy Implementation Update 24 September 2015 ICANN announces the implementation of amendments to the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, which is being renamed as the "Transfer Policy." In addition to rules related to inter-registrar transfers, the updated Transfer Policy now sets policy requirements for transfers between registrants. It will also impose new conditions for the expiration of the Form of Authorization used by registrars in inter-registrar transfers. The amended Transfer Policy is applicable to all gTLD names and ICANN-accredited registrars. These new requirements will take effect and will be enforced by ICANN beginning on 1 August 2016. The GNSO Council unanimously voted to approve the consensus policy recommendations of the IRTP Working Group C on 17 October 2012. The ICANN Board adopted the recommendations<https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/prelim-report-2012-12-20-en#2...> of the GNSO Council on 20 December 2012. ICANN worked in consultation with the GNSO Implementation Review Team, which was formed as directed by the GNSO Council to work with ICANN, to ensure that the resultant implementation fulfills the intentions of the approved policy recommendations. The draft policy went through public comment<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/irtp-c-2015-03-30-en> on 30 March 2015. The new policy requirements include: 1. "Change of Registrant" is now a defined term, meaning a material change to the registrant's name, organization or email address, or the administrative contact's email address if there is no registrant email address. 2. Registrars must use a secure mechanism to confirm that both the prior registrant and new registrant have consented to any Change of Registrant. 3. Registrars must notify the prior registrant and new registrant of a Change of Registrant and provide the notice described in the policy which includes, for example, an explanation of the request, information on how to approve of cancel the change of registrant, etc. 4. Registrars must process the Change of Registrant within one (1) day of receiving the confirmation of Change of Registrant from the prior registrant and the new registrant. 5. Registrars must impose a 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock following a Change of Registrant but registrars may allow registered name holders to opt out of the lock prior to any Change of Registrant request. 6. The Form of Authorization used by gaining registrars, labeled "Initial Authorization for Registrar Transfer" shall expire under the following circumstances: * A period of 60 days has passed since the FOA was sent by the gaining registrar (unless the registrar allows automatic renewal of FOAs) * The domain name expires before the transfer is completed. * A Change of Registrant is completed. * The inter-registrar transfer is completed. A redline version of the policy showing changes can be found here: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/transfer-policy-redline-24sep15-... [PDF, 243 KB] An updated version of the Transfer Policy can be found here: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/transfer-policy-2015-09-24-en Questions about this policy change may be directed to globalsupport@icann.org<mailto:globalsupport@icann.org>.