Change in Domain Registry System: Lock those Domains!

The domain registry system had a slight overhaul recently, after ICANN mandated a change in the registrar transfer procedures.

In the past, a domain transfer would automatically be rejected if the account holder did not approve it. Recently, this changed: now, a transfer request is approved by default unless the account holder actively rejects it!

That's right! If the owner is on vacation, doesn't check his mail frequently enough, has a spam filter that ate the transfer notice, or simply never received the message in the first place for whatever reason, the domain transfer request will automatically be granted.

ICANN's reasoning for this shift was, allegedly, that the new system would prevent a defunct hosting provider or non-working administrative account from keeping a customer's domain hostage.

The only way to change this behaviour and reject a domain transfer by default, is to lock the domain with the registrar. Many of the registrars responded to the policy change by proactively locking all the domains they hosted, having given little warning to customers (in the case of Network Solutions, for example).

Any domain that's not currently locked, and to which the admin contacts aren't paying close enough attention, is at risk. If you haven't already done so: make sure your domains are locked!