Whois Validation Policy now in force for domain registrations, transfers and Whois updates
ICANN -the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has introduced a new Whois Accuracy policy, which all ICANN-accredited registrars are required to abide by. As per the policy's regulations, each registrar must validate the Registrant contact information for all generic TLDs - .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .ASIA, .PRO, .MOBI and .NAME.
Whois validation will be needed in the following cases:
- new registrations;
- transfers of existing domains;
- registrant contact information changes;
What is the Whois validation procedure like?
We have implemented an automated system for sending Whois validation emails in all of the above-mentioned cases. In any of the three cases, we will send a verification email to the new Registrant email address specified for the domain.
The verification email will come from ENOM with the following subject: 'Whois verification for domain.com'. The email will contain a verification link. The domain owner will need to verify the email address by clicking on the link within 15 calendar days after the registration/transfer initiation or the Whois update.
What happens if the validation does not go through?
If you do not verify your contact details within 15 calendar days, the domain will be suspended, and the DNS servers used by the domain name will be changed.
The domain will resolve into a landing page with detailed instructions on how the verification can be made, how the DNS settings can be reset and how your website can be restored.
In the Domain Manager section of the account manager the domain name will be in a Pending Whois Validation status.
Once the verification process is completed, all future new registrations using that same Registrant contact information will be considered as verified and will not be subject to the validation process. Nonetheless, you will need to make sure that the contact information is kept valid, up to date and complete and that the email address is functioning.
Are ID-protected domains affected?
At this time, domain names for which the Whois/ID Protection service has been enabled are not subject to Whois verification. If there is an update in ICANN's policy on this, we will make sure to inform you.
However, if Whois/ID Protection is disabled for your domain (either manually or automatically due to expiration), this will trigger the verification email, as the ID-protected contact details will no longer show up upon a Whois lookup and your very own contact details will be displayed instead.
What should I do if I do not receive a validation email?
If, for some reason, you do not get a Whois validation email, you could contact the support team through the ticketing system to ask for the email to be re-sent.