[registrars] Domain Expiration Date in Registry Managed Whois

[Rick Wesson <wessorh@ar.com>]

Last week the RC had a tele conf on the expiration date published in
Registry whois and the confusion that develops since the date is in some
cases inaccurate.

Below is a draft discussion and recommendations based on information I
collected from the registrars mailing list and the teleconference. These
are meant to be a discussion and summary of the registrars position on the
matter.

please read the note below and comment on areas that need more discussion,
feel free to submit additional language as I'm only playing the role of
editor, not author, from here on out.

best,

-rick

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draft-rc-whois-expiration-date                               R Wesson
Febuary 2, 2003                           CTO, Regitrars Constituency


        Domain Expiration Date in Registry Managed Whois

Discussion

  The output of the internic.net whois produces confusing information
  to registrants and end users of the domain name system. Previous to
  the implementation of the Redemption Grace Periods for Deleted Names,
  VGRS did not publish the date a domain is set to expire. The only
  authoritative source for this information was the Registrar whois.

  Since the implementation of additional fields in the registry whois
  registrants may obtain the expiration date of a domain name from two
  different sources, the registry and the registrar. These two sources
  have drasticly different ways in calculating when a domain is set to
  expire.

  The Registrar whois provides the exact date of expiration and is
  often updated on a real-time basis. Once a registrant renews a
  domain the registrar will update the whois, in some cases within
  seconds of processing the renewal. Registrants have an expectation
  that once a renewal is processed the whois will reflect the new
  expiration date.

  the whois service operated by the .com and .net registry on the
  Internic.net domain is only updated at 12 hour intervals and the
  expiration date does not reflect an accurate date of when a domain
  will expire. A registrant may renew a domain during a auto-renew
  period or the registrar may let VGRS auto-renew the domain. Domain
  that are in the auto-renewal grace period display a date as though
  the domain had been renewed when in fact the domain has been
  automaticly renewed by the registry while the registrant has not
  yet renewed the domain.

  The fact that the registry displays a date that informs the
  registrant that the domain has been renewed when in fact the domain
  is still about to expire is creating confusion among registrants.



Recommendations

  Additional text may limit confusion by stating explicitly that the
  registrar is the authoritative source of the expiration date of a
  domain and that domains on the Internic.net site only show the date
  plus a pending renewal.

  The registry could limit confusion by only showing the expiration
  date after a domain is explicitly renewed.

  An additional renewal or delete pending status, managed by the
  registry, could aid in clarity of what the date actually means.

  Change the heading from "Expiration Date" to text more descriptive
  of the status of the domain.

  A long term solution should be developed to address the auto renewal
  grace period and its impact on financial impact.