[GNSO-TPR] For your review: proposed preliminary agreements related to ICANN-approved transfers

[Caitlin Tubergen]

Dear TPR Working Group members,

Policy Support Staff has taken a stab at drafting the updated preliminary agreements from yesterday’s meeting. These agreements can be found on p. 3 of the ICANN-approved Transfers Working Doc<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gX1N8d3qoktbniRmfGE4-8Un9dPavIKQ3IZYaoe9b0E/edit?usp=sharing> within the orange box. For ease of reference, we have also included the draft preliminary agreements in this email.

Please review the preliminary agreements and provide comments, concerns, and proposed edits within the Google Doc<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gX1N8d3qoktbniRmfGE4-8Un9dPavIKQ3IZYaoe9b0E/edit?usp=sharing> in advance of the next meeting on Tuesday, 8 August.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Emily, Julie, Berry, and Caitlin
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Proposed Preliminary Agreement #1: The Working Group recommends that Registry Operators MAY charge a fee to implement a full domain name portfolio transfer from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another ICANN-accredited registrar. The Working Group recognizes that there may be instances where the Registry chooses to waive this fee, such as cases where ICANN org terminates a registrar due to a breach, ICANN terminates the registrar due to unresponsiveness to renewal notices, etc.

Rationale: There may be instances when Registries choose to waive this fee, so the Working Group is recommending a change from the current language where the fee is mandatory for transfers involving 50,000 names or more.  The carve out for instances of a full portfolio transfer resulting from an involuntary termination/non-renewal is in recognition of the difficulty ICANN org has noted in procuring a gaining registrar to take on a failing or unresponsive registrar’s domain name portfolio.

Proposed Preliminary Agreement #2: The Working Group recommends that the entity voluntarily requesting a full portfolio transfer (typically, the Losing Registrar) MUST be responsible for paying the relevant Registry’s fee (if any).

Rationale: The Working Group recognizes that a voluntary request to transition a domain name portfolio to another registrar will require internal coordination and work from the relevant Registry Operator, and accordingly, the Registry Operator may charge a fee for this process. Due to the voluntary nature of the portfolio transfer request, the requesting entity should be responsible for paying this fee to the Registry Operator.

Proposed Preliminary Agreement #3: The Working Group recognizes the fee associated with full portfolio transfers could be variable and recommends removing prescribed numbers from the policy language, i.e., removal of the reference in Section I.B to $50,000.

Rationale: The Working Group recognizes that a fee may be involved in a full portfolio transfer but believes flexibility is necessary, and the number should not be explicitly prescribed in the Transfer Policy.

Proposed Preliminary Agreement #4: Due to the variable nature of the fee associated with full portfolio transfers, the Working Group recommends that Registry Operators MUST provide notice to registrars of any fees associated with full portfolio transfers upon request and prior to the completion of the full portfolio transfer. How Registry Operators choose to provide notice of fees will be up to the Registry to decide, i.e., password protected portal, website, written notice, etc.

Proposed Preliminary Agreement #5: In the event a registry establishes a mandatory fee for full portfolio transfers, the Working Group recommends [the fee MUST NOT exceed $50,000 or $1 per domain name, whichever is less.]

Proposed edit to Section I.B.1
Current language: I.B.1 Transfer of the sponsorship of all the registrations sponsored by one Registrar as the result of
(i) a Registrar acquisition of that Registrar or its assets by another Registrar, or (ii) lack of accreditation of that Registrar or lack of its authorization with the Registry Operator, may be made according to the following procedure:
Potential Update for WG editing: [There are some instances that fall outside of the requirements in Section I(A) of the Transfer Policy. Specifically, ICANN org may authorize the transfer of a registrar’s domain names through an ICANN-approved bulk transfer without the prior approval of the Registered Name Holder in the following instances:
(i) the Registrar or its assets are acquired by another ICANN-accredited Registrar;
(ii) the Registrar is no longer accredited with ICANN org;
(iii) the Registrar is no longer accredited with a Registry Operator(s) in a TLD(s), e.g., termination of Registry-Registrar Agreement(s)*
(iv) [Potential language to be added regarding registry approval partial bulk transfers following discussion of Charter Question i2)].




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