[registrars] Thoughts on Transfer Policy interpretation

[Mike Lampson]

All,

I am soliciting opinions on how some Registrars and interpreting Section 3
of the ICANN Transfer Agreement.  Apparently some Registrars are
interpreting item #7 differently than I am.  This items reads as follows:

> A domain name was already in "lock status" provided
> that the Registrar provides a readily accessible and
> reasonable means for the Registered Name Holder to
> remove the lock status.

Some Registrars are interpreting "lock status" to indicate a
Registrar-specific flag on the domain.  I am finding that some .COM and .NET
domains are listed as ACTIVE in the VeriSign "short Whois" output and I am
able to start a transfer.  It is subsequently denied by the current
Registrar as being "locked".

I'm interesting in knowing other Registrars' opinions of this
interpretation.  Below is the response from pairNIC when I inquired about
their transfer rejection.  They are not the only Registrar rejecting
transfers from us.  They are the only one that has sent a reply giving this
interpretation.

Thanks,

Mike Lampson
The Registry at Info Avenue, LLC

-----Original Message-----
From: pairNIC Support
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 1:51 PM
To: Mike Lampson
Subject: Re: [U7R5J2K] Transfer issue: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.NET

Section 3 of the ICANN Policy on Transfer of Registrations between
Registrars (Item 7) provides that a transfer request may be denied by the
Registrar of Record if "[a] domain name was already in "lock status"
provided that the Registrar provides a readily accessible and reasonable
means for the Registered Name Holder to remove the lock status."  In
accordance with the pairNIC Terms of Service, to which xxxxxxx has agreed,
all domain names registered with pairNIC are automatically placed in
transfer-lock status with pairNIC.  In accordance with the ICANN policy, a
transfer request will be denied while a domain name remains in transfer-lock
status.

In accordance with the ICANN Policy, pairNIC provides "a readily
accessible and reasonable means for the Registered Name Holder to remove
the lock status."  xxxxxxx may contact our support department
for instructions on removing the domain name from transfer-lock status or
may view the instructions contained in our FAQ at
https://www.pairnic.com/sub_faq.m?file=faq_transfer#8

To date, however, xxxxxx, has chosen not to remove the
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.NET domain name from transfer-lock status.

Regards,

the pairNIC Customer Support Team