[registrars] Verisign registry requirements for credit during 45 day grace period after domain name expiry

[Bruce Tonkin <Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au>]

Hello All,

At present the Verisign registry requires a credit balance to be maintained
by registrars.

After a domain name passes the expiry date, the registry "auto-renews" the
name, and charges against the funds maintained by the registrar.

There is then a 45 day grace period, during which the domain name may be
deleted, and the registry fee refunded.

Given that probably only around 50% of domain names are renewed, there is a
need for a registrar to maintain a higher credit balance than necessary
(unless the registrar chooses to not take advantage of the 45 day grace
period, and explicitly delete the domain on the day of expiry).

Melbourne IT feels that either:
(1) Verisign should not debit the account balance until the end of the 45
day grace period
(2) Verisign should only debit the registrar at the beginning of the 45 day
grace period for an amount that reflects the average renewal rate of that
particular registrar (e.g if the registrar on average renews 10% of domains
by the end of the 45 day period, then the registry could debit the
registrars account by that number of domains at the beginning of the 45 day
period).

What do other registrars think?

We have found that as our total number of domains under management has
grown, the requirement for a large credit balance is increased (and hence
the opportunity cost of providing those funds that could be used effectively
elsewhere).

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin