eNom: Changes being enforced by ICANN regarding expiring domains

[openmind]

I received an email from eNom making me aware of cvhanges coming in August regarding how to deal with domains that have expired.

 

Now they are recommending that reminders are sent out at least one month before expiration which is fine as WHMCS already does this, however there's more:

 

http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars/consensus-policies/errp

 

2.1.2. If a registration is not renewed by the RAE or deleted by the registrar, within five days after the expiration of the registration, the registrar must transmit at least one additional expiration notice to the RAE that includes instructions for renewing the registration.

 

So an additional email has to be sent after expiration and I don't see a way that is built in at the moment to do this.

 

But then the fun starts

 

2.2.1. Subject to applicable consensus policies and provisions of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement ("RAA"), registrars may delete registrations at any time after they expire.

The grace period is being shortened to 30 days from 60:

3.1. With the exception of sponsored gTLD registries, all gTLD registries must offer a Redemption Grace Period ("RGP") of 30 days immediately following the deletion of a registration, during which time the deleted registration may be restored at the request of the RAE by the registrar that deleted it. Registrations deleted during a registry's add-grace period, if applicable, should not be subject to the RGP.

 

It does sound like we are going to be more on the ball for customers who forget to renew as they are tightening the rules.

[brian!]

So an additional email has to be sent after expiration and I don't see a way that is built in at the moment to do this.

you'll know more about WHMCS than me, but couldn't you alter the "First Invoice Overdue Notice" email template to do this - assuming your due date is the same as the expiry date.

 

it may need some conditional display code to ensure certain text is only shown for expired domains.

[openmind]

Nice idea and that would probably work...

[And then there was one les]

You should be able to send that message with the marketer, just set it up to x days after expiry. If the domain is renewed they wont get the reminder so all is rosy.

 

Now, i dont really see how this changes anything in any great way so far as the domains go. A deletion could occur yes, But the grace period allows recovery, the main thing here will be the cost of recovery. Many clients would probably prefer to just order a new domain rather than shell out a large cost to recover.

 

Im sure whmcs settings will need some changes though, and our terms and conditions FAQ's etc but from what i can make out this isnt a game changer.

[And then there was one les]

2.2.4. In interrupting the DNS resolution path of the registration, if the registrar directs web traffic to the domain name to a web page while the registration is still renewable by the RAE, that web page must conspicuously indicate that the domain name registration is expired and provide renewal instructions.

 

This part however will cause us problems. If the registrar allows web traffic to the domain they have to display a notice on the page. Now to me, this tells me one thing, Any expired domain must be served through a frame by the registrar, This means that any domain reseller out there will have to hope that their registrar will do this white label.

[brian!]

You should be able to send that message with the marketer, just set it up to x days after expiry. If the domain is renewed they wont get the reminder so all is rosy.

I thought domains weren't included in marketer - it can only be used with products/services, or clients?

[And then there was one les]

It wouldnt be too difficult to hook into the marketer if you can't. then again i suppose the suggestion above about the overdue notices could be an easier solution with some carefully setout statements to ensure you don't send the wrong information, But you would have to consider that the reminder for payment would be lost in this case.

 

If you have a renewal date that is earlier than the expiry date as is often the case where domains/whmcs are concerned this would also be a problem in that the expiry notice would be fired off too early.

 

There are other things that whmcs does not deal with and considering we handle domains it should. and infact after august its going to have to. one being the annual notices to the client about data verification. Whmcs send them to us (enom account) but our own system does not send them to clients.

 

Some of the modules have their own emails according to the documentation anyway, im not keen on that idea, they should be just as customisable as all the email templates are and available in the same place.

[openmind]

My only concern, that I'm waiting for eNom to respond to, is that the costs for recovery within the initial period from the domain expiry to the end of the 30 day grace period are going to shoot up to the same as the extended RGP cost...

[And then there was one les]

Let us know the outcome of your contact please openmind, that is a very valid point you make.

[chrissie-penguin]

Openmind - did you get a reply from eNom regarding the charges? I ask because I spoke with them last night and they confirmed that nothing their end is changing therefore once a domain passes the expiry date, it is renewable at the standard amount until it goes into redemption (I was worried they were going to add a fee during this time too). Hopefully you have the same information though as otherwise I will have to check with them again.

Thanks

[openmind]

They have confirmed the same to me...

[mrl14]

The major change is a mandatory 30 day renewal reminder for gTLDs will now come from ENOM. Previously, you could disable this and just send it from WHMCS. What will happen here is that WHMCS provides only a global setting for this and ccTLDs, which are not bound by ICANN's new requirement, won't get this 30 day reminder from WHMCS (since you'll want to turn it off to avoid duplicate emails).

 

Hopefully WHMCS can update it's reminder template to be a little more customizable with sending notices.

 

All these are new requirements for selling new TLDs, so all registrar's are implementing them.

[plusplushosting]

Is there any addon for this? WHMCS support replied me that there is an addon which i do not find (instead to add a code into they product, arrghhh)