Fresh Rules Considered for Domain Name Registrars

GNSO approves motion for changes to registrar accreditation agreement.

At the Mexico City ICANN meeting, Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) approved a motion to adopt changes to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) counting fresh amendments. These changes are now open for public comment, following which the ICANN board of directors will vote on the changes.

These changes will have major effect on domain registrars that have found ways to slip through RAA rules. This is good news for domain name registrants. Among the changes:

Sanctions and Suspensions – right now the only enforcement option ICANN has against a registrar is to issue a breach notice and pull its accreditation. Consider it “the nuclear option”. The fresh agreement would allow for escalating enforcement counting fines.

Multiple registrars treated as one – essentially if one registrar breaks the rules, it can’t simply move its bad operations to an affiliated registrar.

Private registrations – domain registrars offering private registrations that hide whois information must either escrow the actual owners information or clearly inform clients that it is not escrowing this information. The escrow is notable to claim ownership in the event of a registrar failure.

Registrar contact information – registrars will have to post their e-mail address and address on their web site.

Registrar audits – gives ICANN the right to audit and perform registrar site visits.

Training – mandatory training for registrar’s employees regarding ICANN policies and RAA.

Resellers – obligating resellers to comply with ICANN policies

Fees – potential changes to registrar fees