auDA .au Domain Name Drop Lists
Posted By: Thomas Shaw, 11:07am Tuesday 11 May 2010
Do you know when your .au domain name is going to expire? When most people purchase a .au domain name they think they own the domain name for life. Unfortunately that has never been the case, and with the introduction of the Domain Renewal, Expiry and Deletion Policy (pdf) by the auDA now everyone will know if you forget to renew your domain name.
This new policy is in relation to the renewal, expiry and deletion of .au domain names, which came into effect on 18 April 2010. The new policy changes the way in which expired and deleted .au domain names are removed from the domain name registry. You can check the WHOIS status of any domain name through the WHOIS lookup.
The key features of this policy include
- The introduction of an Official Domain Drop List which will publish the exact time and date that expired and deleted .au domain names will become available for registration.
- The introduction of a new service called "domain sync" which allows owners of multiple .au domain names to set a common expiry date for all their .au domain names, provided that the date is less than 2 years from the date of registration of each domain name.
- All expired or deleted domain names to be removed from the domain name registry at 1.00pm AEST (2.00pm AEDT) on the date of removal rather than at a random time on the date of removal as under the previous policy.
This "Domain Drop List" will list all domains in the .au domain that are about to be purged from the registry, and then put back on the market as available to be registered by anyone who so desires. The list contains both domains that have simply expired and domains that have either been deleted by the previous owner or by auDA themselves.
Currently, the standard period for the registration of a .au domain name is two years. Upon the expiry date (which is automatically set at two years from the date of registration) the domain name licence period may be renewed for further two years.
Under both the current and the new policy, a .au domain name may be renewed at any time within 90 calendar days before the expiry date.
Where a domain name is not renewed on or before its expiry date, the domain name is removed from the DNS. However, for 30 calendar days after the expiry date, it can be restored and renewed, and a third party is not able to register the domain name.
Under this new policy, if a .au domain name is not renewed, then the day before it is “purged”, it will be published on a “Domain Drop List”. Also, all “purges” will now occur daily at 1 pm AEST, including weekends and public holidays.
This means that everyone now has an easier way of monitoring which .au domain names have expired so that they can now register these names as soon as they are released.
What would you do if a domain squatter or competitor was able to register your domain name? How much would you have to pay them to purchase the domain name back again? Monitor your domain name registrations and ensure that you renew your domain name before it expires.
