ICANN to Eliminate 60-Day Domain Transfer Lock

Domainincite News：ICANN is set to eliminate the controversial 60-day domain transfer lock policy. During the ICANN 82 meeting in Seattle this week, the GNSO Council voted to approve the Final Report of the Transfer Policy Working Group, which includes 47 major recommendations affecting domain transfers.

The End of the 60-Day Lock Policy

Under the current policy, when a domain owner changes their name, organization, or email address, or acquires a domain from another registrant, the domain is locked for 60 days, preventing transfers to another registrar. This rule was originally designed to prevent domain theft by stopping bad actors from quickly transferring stolen domains to non-cooperative registrars.

However, the policy has long been criticized by domain holders, especially those who want to consolidate their domains under a single registrar. Under the new policy, this restriction will be completely removed. Additionally, the requirement to notify both the gaining and losing registrants during a registrant change will also be eliminated, as notifications provide little security when the losing registrant’s email has already been compromised.

New Mandatory Transfer Locks Introduced

While the 60-day lock will be eliminated, ICANN will introduce new mandatory lock rules. In the future, all newly registered domains or recently transferred domains will be automatically locked for 720 hours (30 days). Registrars that currently impose a longer lock will be required to reduce it to 720 hours, while registrars without such a lock must now comply. ICANN believes this change will help reduce credit card fraud and assist with trademark disputes, such as those handled under UDRP.

Other Key Changes

In addition to transfer lock changes, the update includes several other modifications, such as:

• Allowing registrars to deny a transfer request based on DNS abuse (as defined in ICANN contracts);

• Standardizing the process for handling Transfer Authorization Codes (TAC);

• Adjusting bulk domain transfer fees, capping registry charges at $50,000 for portfolios exceeding 50,000 domains;

• Incorporating the Bulk Transfer After Partial Portfolio Acquisition (BTAPPA) directly into the Transfer Policy, removing the need for registries to request approval from ICANN separately.

The GNSO Council has unanimously approved these changes, which will now be sent to the ICANN Board for final approval. Once approved, an ICANN/GNSO team will draft the formal updated Transfer Policy, and registries and registrars will be given sufficient time to implement the new rules. The changes are expected to take effect in approximately 18 months.