November 11th, 2004
By Name Intelligence

Domain Registrants may be learning of a new ICANN Domain Name transfer policy the hard way – by losing their domain name – unless they either set their domain names to registrar-lock, or proactively monitor and respond "NO" to transfer requests.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) November 11, 2004 – Name Intelligence, is making available, for free, a suite of domain name tools available to help registrants watch their domain names, in an effort to protect against the negative impacts of a new ICANN domain transfer policy change which puts domain registrants at risk of losing their name if they are not locked and monitored closely.

Many Domain Name registrants and domain managers are not aware of a loophole in the updated ICANN domain name transfer policy (going into effect 11/12/2004) which could allow someone to transfer your domain away from your registrar without consent.

If you own one or more domain names, you need to be aware that those domain names are potentially exposed to unauthorized transfer under a new ICANN policy.

"Critical Policy changes in the handling of Domain Name transfers go into effect on November 12, 2004. These changes may expose your domain names to unauthorized transfer if they are not locked. We have a free domain monitoring tool that can help a registrant to review their portfolio and take appropriate action"

"The Whois Source website [http://www.whois-source.com] operates free services where Domain Managers can easily and quickly monitor and validate one or thousands of their Domain Names and improve their peace of mind against unauthorized transfers.", said Jay Westerdal, President and CEO of Name Intelligence, operators of Whois Source. "A registrant can monitor their domain name(s) easily through the free tools available on the web site, and there are daily email alerts that can proactively announce changes to a domain's status, such as a registrar transfer taking place."

"People are not aware of the magnitude of the impact of this policy change and what it means to domain name registrants. Names that are not registrar-locked are at risk.", said Jerome Gagner, Senior Developer at Name Intelligence. "Previously, a registrant's name would be safe from someone taking it away from them, because a transfer simply could not happen without their explicit approval. The new policy makes transfers require that the current registrant explicitly decline the request. If the current registrant fails to decline the transfer, the transfer will go through. "

"Whois Source has always maintained free tools to aid domain managers in their efforts as a public service to the internet community. We encourage people who use the site to contribute via upgrade to the paid subscription model, as it allows our organization to improve the services we offer – clearly this costs us money to operate, yet I am passionate about having useful resources available at no cost, and I am also passionate about not hounding the free member base to upgrade." adds Westerdal.

To use this free service, visit the Whois Source, at http://www.whois-source.com and set up a free account. Once signed up, log in, and click the "My Monitoring List" section of the Main Control Panel, and start adding domains through the simple interface.

About Name Intelligence.
Name Intelligence is a privately held corporation with headquarters in Seattle. Founded in 1999, Name Intelligence provides tools and utilities that help extend domain organizations of any size from world leading registrars to corporate IT lawyers and individual domain name holders any size. Whois Source, http://www.whois-source.com is the #1 domain name whois search engine, and is now being licensed by some of the fastest growing ICANN registrars.

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