Overview
The following is an overview of ICANN's Transfer Policy and how to opt out of the 60-day lock to proceed with a transfer.
FAQs
What is ICANN's transfer policy?
ICANN's transfer policy states the following:
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You cannot transfer a domain registration:
- within 60 days of the original purchase
- or if it's been transferred to DreamHost in the last 60 days.
The policy includes both:
- transfers between different registrars
- as well as between different registrants.
Any changes you make to the WHOIS information, such as the registrant’s name, organization, and email address, will:
- place the domain in a 60-day transfer lock
- and trigger notification emails sent to the old and new registrant, notifying them of the change.
How will this affect my account at DreamHost?
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DreamHost will implement this using the designated agent policy option to make it as painless for you as possible.
As stated in the ICANN Transfer Policy (1.2, “Designated Agent”), it allows an individual or entity that the 'Prior Registrant' or 'New Registrant' explicitly authorizes to approve a Change of Registrant on its behalf. This means:
- DreamHost will act as your Designated Agent, to approve any changes.
- There will be an addition to DreamHost's Domain Registrations Terms for this, as follows:
You authorize DreamHost to act as your “Designated Agent” to approve each “Change of Registrant” on your behalf (both terms are defined in ICANN’s Transfer Policy). Also, we will automatically implement a 60-day domain transfer lock following a “Change of Registrant” per ICANN’s new Transfer Policy.
What happens if I make any WHOIS changes?
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If you edit the WHOIS information in any way on your account, it will result in the notification process and a 60-day lock. This also includes any changes you make to privacy settings.
Any change you make to your domain registration occurs immediately, including edits to WHOIS, nameserver(s), and registrant information.
In most cases, there are 3–4 emails triggered:
- RAA verification (links to RAA article).
- Success of changes from support@dreamhost.com.
- One to new registrant from: do-not-reply@dreamhostregistry.com
- One to old registrant from: do-not-reply@dreamhostregistry.com
The new emails that are sent for this new process are notification emails, so you do not need to take any action.
What if I'm transferring a domain away from DreamHost?
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If you wish to make any changes to the WHOIS information before a transfer, you MUST select the checkbox titled Opt out of 60-day transfer lock. This is mandatory since ICANN will place the domain in a 60-day lock period if you make any WHOIS registrant changes.
Please note that even if you change your privacy settings, the 60-day lock is triggered. So make sure the checkbox is selected to opt out. See the instructions in the following section to learn more about hot to opt out.
Opting out of the 60-day transfer lock
You can choose to opt out of the domain transfer lock by making the following selections in the panel:
- Open the Manage Registrations page.
- Click the checkbox for each domain you wish to modify.
- Click the Modify whois! button. If you have more than one domain, you can also modify all of them by clicking the checkbox at the bottom (Select all domains).
- The Edit Whois Info page opens.
- Remove privacy and enable opt-out by selecting the following checkboxes:
- UNCHECK: I want all of my contact information private.
- CHECK: Opt out of the 60-day transfer lock.
- If you do not opt out of the domain 60-day transfer lock, a warning message appears indicating that your domain will be locked once you save your changes. If you agree to the lock, check the box that indicates you understand these terms.
- Click the Save Registrant Contact button at the bottom.
You can then review this article for full instructions on how to transfer your registration away from DreamHost.