[gtld-tech] Registrar Expiration Date I-D

[Thomas Corte]

Hello Andrew,

On 27/01/2016 00:26, Andrew Sullivan wrote:

> Since the registry doesn't have access to the life cycle of the
> registrar-registrant agreement, this value doesn't belong in the
> registry database -- any more than, say, the expiry date of the
> registrant's credit card belongs in the registry.  The reason for this
> is that it is dependent on the registrar's business logic, so it can't
> be in a shared repository like the registry.

I completely agree that, in a perfect world, the registrar expiration
date would have no business being stored in the registry's database.

Meanwhile, in real life, the problem seems to be that registrants get
confused by looking at the registry Whois and seeing their domain
expiring in, say, a couple of months, even though their current payment
cycle with their registrar or reseller extends way beyond that point (I
pointed out in an earlier e-mail that registrars may choose to e.g. bill
domains in cycles that are completely detached from the registry's).
Seeing this makes them worried about losing their domain, since most of
them are also unaware of the fact that most registries auto-renew domains
when they reach the expiration date.

So from this point of view, it *may* be beneficial to have the registrar
expiration date displayed alongside the registry expiration date.
It may also add even more confusion though; it could be argued that it
may even better to *not* display the registry expiration date in the
registry Whois at all in such scenarios, since it has no meaning to the
registrant, and the registrar can always get it via EPP.

Best regards,

Thomas

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