Urgent: update your Whois records ahead of December 1

Do this now to avoid a big pain in the future.

Hopefully my U.S. readers are getting ready to enjoy turkey and stuffing right now, but you need to get back to work ahead of the end of the month.

As I discussed on this stretch’s podcast, a fresh domain name transfer policy goes into effect on December 1. The key change has to do with registrant transfers rather than registrar transfers. Not taking action ahead of December 1 could result in a big hassle.

Essentially, if you make a change to your registrant name, organization name or email address on a domain once the fresh policy goes into effect, both the fresh and old registrant have to approve the change. Even if you make a minor change in which you remain the registrant, you’ll have to click on multiple emails from the registrar to approve the change. Also, unless your registrar provides an opt-out and you select it, these changes will result in a 60-day transfer lock on your domain.

So here’s your homework for the rest of the month: check the whois records on your domain name portfolio to make sure you have accurate information in the registrant fields. Make corrections now while it’s still easy.