Effective January 1, 2014
Verifying Contact Information for ICANN Validation

If you have an issue with your email service or your website, most likely your domain name is suspended or will be suspended pending your whois verification.   Most likely your Registrant email address is invalid or not verified. After you make the appropriate corrections to your contact information, you will receive an email to verify the changes. After you have verified, your website or your email will be reinstated immediately. Please read below for details. 

A new ICANN rule became effective January 1, 2014, requiring ALL REGISTRARS to send a verification email to the registrant of the domain name to validate that ALL of the whois contact information including email address, state and postal code for the domain/domains are correct.

Beginning in January, the registrant contact will need to be validated upon the purchase or transfer of a domain name, or if the registrant’s first name or last name have been modified.  

We will send an email requiring an affirmative response; the registrant will be required to click a link and agree to our terms and conditions (very similar to how transfers work today). 

• This email will be re-sent on day 5, 10 and 13 within the 15-­day validation window.

• Messages on days 10 and 13 of this process will also be sent to the Admin, Tech and Billing contacts.

• A “your domain has been suspended” email will be sent to the registrant on day 16.

 •        The same validation process will take place if a WHOIS Data Reminder Policy (WDRP) notice, 30 day expiration notice or 5 day expiration notice bounces. It will therefore be of paramount importance to ensure the WHOIS data that you provide is correct.

 •        Failing to receive a response within 15 days requires us to suspend the name. As a result, the name will be placed on ClientHold status, rendering the domain name inactive.

 •        This process applies to all gTLDs.  

 •        There is no impact to existing names as long as they are not modified and WDRP/expiration notices do not bounce.

Registrant Validation FAQs

Below are some questions and answers about how the Registrant Validation will be handled .

 Q: Who is the Registrant?

A: The Registrant is the Owner Contact Record.

 Q: What exactly is the validation process?

A: The validation process is a 15 day window during which a Registrant must provide an affirmative response to an email that that will be sent to them. The email contains a link that the Registrant is asked to click. When they click this link, they are taken to a page that displays the email address, first and last name that they used to register the domain. The validation email message also includes a link to the domain registration terms and conditions and a checkbox that they must click to indicate that they agree to those terms and conditions. Failure to respond to this email will result in the domain being suspended.

Q: What does "suspended" mean?

A: Suspended means that we interrupt the DNS and prevent the domain from resolving. The domain will be placed on ClientHold and our internal WHOIS Lock.

 Q: What information does the registrant need to validate?

A: Three pieces of registrant contact data will be validated: First name, Last name and Email address. When a registrant purchases, transfers, or updates a domain's registrant contact information, the system first checks to see if a previously validated record exists for that combination of First name, Last name, and Email Address.  If an exact match exists, the domain will be considered validated and no further action is required. If an exact match does not exist, the registrant will be sent an email asking them to validate their First name, Last name, and Email Address. For example, John Doe john@doe.com is different from Johnathan Doe john@doe.com, and both will require separate validation.

 Q: Which TLDs does this process apply to?

A: The validation process applies to all gTLDs.

 Q: What action will trigger the validation process?

A: Any new registration, transfer in, or contact update will trigger the validation process. The cron job that generates the validation messages runs once a day.

 Q: What change will trigger the validation process for an existing domain?

A: Any change to the First name, Last name, or Email address will trigger the validation process, unless it was previously validated.

 Q: What else will trigger the validation process for an existing domain?

A: If the WDRP or ERRP (Day 30 and Day 5 Renewal Notices) bounce, the domain will enter the validation process.

 Q: Will previously registered domain names require validating as of Jan. 1/2014?

A: No, we do not have to retroactively validate domain names.

 Q: How many emails will a Registrant receive once the validation process has started?

A: A Registrant will receive an email to validate their contact information on day 1, day 5, day 10 and day 13. On day 16, if they haven't validated their information, they will receive an email informing them that their domain name has been suspended. 

 Here is a diagram showing the timelines:

Q: It's day 80, and the Registrant wants to validate their name. What do they do?

A: Please contact us at support@domainsnext.com, wand we will resend the validation email. The domain will remain suspended until the Registrant visits the link included in that email. 

 How long will it take for my domain to come back online after I validate my information?

A: Your domain should come back online instantly.

 Q: My domain is suspended due to a bounced WDRP or ERRP notice so I can't receive the validation email. What do I do?

A: Registrant should login to their Domain Manager account and update the email address. This will trigger the validation process if necessary. 

 Q. If a domain is suspended, will it still auto-renew?

A: Yes it will.

 Q: One of my domains WDRP or ERRP notice has bounced. Does that mean all my domains with the same contact information will enter the validation process?

A: No, the validation process only applies to that specific domain name where the WDRP and ERRP notice bounces. However, we would recommend that you check the email address on all other domains to prevent any future WDRP or ERRP bounces.

 Q: If the Registrant updates their address in the Domain Manager, does the validation email only go to the new address? Is the previous address notified or required to do anything?

A: Registrants will be required to validate the new email address only, and only the new address will receive the validation emails.