Transfer Fees

[Danny Younger]

On the Council list, Chuck Gomes has posed the
question as to whether the Transfer Policy Review
Committee has completed its work.

As the Committee's 14 January 2007 "Advisory
Concerning Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy" fails to
discuss the issue of registrar transfer-away fees, I
would argue that the Committee still has work to do.

ICANN's FAQ for Registrars on Transfers states:

-- Are we allowed to charge fees to process transfer
requests?

-- Yes. The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy does not
make any provisions with regard to the fees a
registrar may charge its customers.

By contrast, consider the policy in place at AuDa:

6. TRANSFER FEES

6.1 The losing registrar must not impose a transfer
fee on the registrant, or any fee that could
reasonably be construed as a transfer fee.

6.2 The gaining registrar must not impose a transfer
fee on the registrant, or any fee that could
reasonably be construed as a transfer fee. If the
gaining registrar chooses to bundle the transfer with
other service offerings, then the gaining registrar
must advise the registrant that the transfer is free
of charge.


Transfer-away fees defeat the intent of the Transfers
Policy, namely facile domain name portability.  The
NCUC should press the Council to have the Transfer
Policy Review Committee address the issue of fees
asscociated with the transfer process.



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